Monday, September 22, 2008 Fouke Ark.
State officers and FBI agents raided the Tony Alamo Christian ministries compound on Saturday. The
ministry is led by convicted tax in greater Tony Alamo. Alamo has denied any involvement in pornography.
Arkansas State Police put six children are in temporary custody after a raid on a church compound as part of a child porn investigation.
State Police spokesman Bill Sadler said Sunday he will be in and he is being be a Human Services is to use an interviews. He isn’t saying how long the interviews might last.
He did not say how old the children were, but an e-mail that authorities inadvertently sent to media members last week referred to 12-, 13- and 14-year-old girls.
The move comes after a raid Saturday by more than 100 federal and state authorities. Investigators said their two-year probe into allegations of child pornography and abuse focused on convicted tax evader Tony Alamo and his ministry, described by its critics as a cult.
The raid, the culmination of a two-year investigation into child-abuse and pornography allegations, was moved up on the calendar after an e-mail about plans for an October raid was inadvertently sent to media late last week.
Alamo told The Associated Press in an interview Saturday that no child pornography was generated at the ministry but that age of consent is puberty when it comes to sex. Alamo, who said he was in the Los Angeles area, said the government is trying to harass him.
Alamo claimed in a telephone interview with The Associated Press on Saturday that the investigation was part of a federal push to legalize same-sex marriage while outlawing polygamy. He also said for girls having sex, “consent is puberty.”
“It’s a hoax,” Alamo said. “They’re just trying to make our church look evil …… by saying I’m a pornographer. Saying that I rape little children. …… I love children. I don’t abuse them. Never have. Never will.“
