Prosecutors: Jailed evangelist Tony Alamo ‘married’ underage girls, gave them rings

Prosecutors: Jailed evangelist ‘married’ girls

TEXARKANA, Ark. — Federal prosecutors say jailed evangelist Tony Alamo (uh-LAH’-moh) “married” underage girls he had allegedly had sex with, exchanging wedding vows and giving them rings.

Prosecutors made the claim in a filing to U.S. District Judge Harry F. Barnes in Arkansas. Prosecutors want to include evidence of Alamo’s alleged marriages in his trial on a 10-count indictment accusing him of taking young girls across state lines for sex.

Alamo’s trial is scheduled to start Monday. Prosecutors and defense lawyers met with Barnes in a closed-door session in at the federal courthouse in Texarkana on Friday.

Defense lawyers for Alamo filed a set of motions Thursday requesting words like “polygamy,” ”cult” and “compound” not be used at trial.