Alamo Freed on $200,000 Bond in Saugus Child-Abuse Case
Evangelist Tony Alamo was freed from custody in Fayetteville, Ark., on Tuesday after a $1-million bail set in a Saugus child-abuse case was reduced to $200,000, and it was posted for him.
Alamo is accused by Los Angeles authorities of ordering the severe paddling of an 11-year-old boy at a religious commune in Saugus in early 1988.
Alamo’s attorney, Jeffrey Dickstein of Tulsa, Okla., said Alamo is willing to face the California child-abuse charge.
“We think the charge is false,” Dickstein told Judge William Storey. “But he’s ready, willing and able to go to California and handle the case.”
Los Angeles County authorities fought the bail reduction because Alamo had been a fugitive until he was arrested recently in Florida after a three year-search. Dana Watson, an Arkansas prosecutor representing the state of California, unsuccessfully requested that bail remain at $1 million.
Storey, in announcing his decision, expressed concern over Alamo’s former fugitive status but said he was entitled to bail.
Alamo was acquitted in September of a federal charge of threatening to kidnap U.S. District Judge Morris Arnold of Ft. Smith, Ark.
Start your day right
Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
