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Prosecutors claim evangelist 'married' 8-year-old
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TEXARKANA, Ark. (AP) — Evangelist Tony Alamo preyed on his loyal followers' young daughters, once taking a girl as young as 8 as his bride and repeatedly sexually assaulting her, a federal prosecutor said Tuesday.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Clay Fowlkes said that girl's story and others unwound an "elaborate facade" Alamo wove around himself. Lawyers for the 74-year-old Alamo, who is charged with taking underage girls across state lines for sex, argued that the alleged victims traveled across the country to further the outreach and business interests of a "bona fide religious group" that the government targeted out of its own prejudices.

U.S. District Judge Harry F. Barnes swore in a jury of nine men and three women on Tuesday. They include a jobless personnel employee, a worker for a local construction company and an airport finance director who lives in Fouke, the location of Alamo's 15-acre complex that authorities raided Sept. 20.

Fowlkes told jurors that a 15-year-old girl who left the Alamo ministries in 2006 told the FBI that Alamo married her at age 8. The girl told agents Alamo exchanged wedding vows and rings with her and first sexually assaulted her before she turned 10, Fowlkes said.

Alamo summoned another 15-year-old girl to his home in 1994 by telephone, authorities said, then telling her parents that God instructed him to marry her. Fowlkes said the parents consented and Alamo repeatedly sexually assaulted the girl, taking her on trips to West Virginia and Tennessee as he prepared for a trial on federal tax-evasion charges.

Another similar call came in 1998, when Alamo married a 14-year-old girl, Fowlkes said. In 2002, Alamo summoned three underage girls into his bedroom and shut the door, telling them God wanted him to marry two of them, Fowlkes said. Alamo later sexually assaulted two of those girls he married, one 11, the other 14, the prosecutor said.

Those girls also traveled on Alamo's orders to other states, Fowlkes said.

One of those girl's parents encouraged her to marry Alamo, saying his home had access to better food, television privileges, movies and a swimming pool, Fowlkes said. But the evangelist controlled every aspect of the girls' lives from what they ate to who spoke with them, the prosecutor said.

"When the FBI began to pull on that thread, it began to unravel the elaborate facade the defendant had carefully woven around himself," Fowlkes said.

Don Ervin, who is leading Alamo's defense team, told jurors to focus on the facts. He said all the girls' travel came as part of the ministry's efforts to give people "decent lives for themselves."

"This investigation, this prosecution was fueled by prejudice the government and law enforcement have against Tony Alamo's church because of its practices," Ervin said.

A federal judge revoked the tax-exempt status for Alamo's ministries in the 1980s after investigations by the Internal Revenue Service and the U.S. Labor Department. After the hearing, Ervin said the government couldn't decide what represented a real church.

"They've done a lot of good for people," Ervin said. "The IRS doesn't control who is a bona fide church, they just control who has to pay taxes and who doesn't."

Alamo, whose ministry grew into a multimillion industry on the backs of his followers, was convicted of tax evasion charges in 1994. He served four years in prison after the IRS said he owed the government $7.9 million. The evangelist has blamed the recent charges against him as the work of a Vatican-led conspiracy.

In 1991, Alamo was acquitted of threatening a federal judge — a case that fueled an extraordinary increase in security efforts for Alamo's current trial. Uniformed U.S. Homeland Security officers walked outside around the courthouse, while U.S. marshals filled the hallways and manned two metal detectors.

Alamo, gaunt and pale, sat quietly for much of the hearing, wearing a grey suit and dark sunglasses. He could be heard correcting his lawyer's summary of the ministry's history during opening arguments.

Alamo faces a 10-count federal indictment. If convicted, he faces 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine on each count. He remains held without bond until the end of his trial, scheduled to last two weeks.

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Georgia Motorcycle Safety Program announces grant
Funds earmarked for Share the Road initiatives
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Grant funding totaling $93,458 has been awarded to the Georgia Motorcycle Safety Program (GMSP) by the Governor’s Office of Highway Safety. The approved funding will be used to increase motorcycle safety awareness and outreach by encouraging all motorists and motorcyclists to Share the Road.

“The need for motorcycle safety programs is greater than ever, and this support from GOHS enables motorcycle safety programs and impaired riding initiatives to reach riders and non-riders alike” said Commissioner Spencer R. Moore. “Thank you GOHS for helping (the Department of Driver Services) and GMSP educate and encourage all Georgia drivers to ‘Share the Road.’”

The grant allows DDS to further develop the Motorcycle Safety Outreach Program by continuing to fund a position to promote state and national safety initiatives. The GMSP outreach coordinator researches, coordinates and helps maintain an adequate presence at industry events, local schools and colleges, regional meetings and festivals to increase awareness of motorcycles on the roadways and provide the most current information on motorcycle safety initiatives.

Visitors to a GMSP event display are also encouraged to sign up for regular newsletters which provide additional safety information, as well as review the motorcycle safety message on other social media platforms.

GMSP regulates motorcycle training for new riders, as well as seasoned riders, who want to learn how to ride a motorcycle legally and safely. The program is based on a continuum of learning and therefore offers three entry points to rider education.

Students participating in the Basic Riders Course do not need specialized motorcycle equipment, as the GMSP provides both a motorcycle and a helmet to class participants. Upon successful completion of the course, participants receive a 90-day license waiver card that exempts them from both the written and on-cycle skills tests needed to obtain a Class M license in the state of Georgia.

Please visit the DDS website at www.dds.georgia.gov for many online services including the convenience of enrolling in a GMSP training class and accessing many licensing services.

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