SAN FERNANDO : Alamo to Stand Trial in Abuse
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Evangelist Tony Alamo pleaded not guilty Friday in San Fernando Superior Court to a charge of felony child-abuse and was ordered to stand trial Aug. 7.
The charge against Alamo, the embattled leader of a commune of devoted followers, stems from an alleged beating administered to a 14-year-old boy in 1988 at the group’s Mint Canyon quarters in Saugus.
The boy testified at a preliminary hearing in Newhall Municipal Court last December that he was beaten 140 times with a large wooden paddle by a commune member acting on Alamo’s orders.
At the conclusion of the hearing, a judge ruled there was sufficient evidence to bind Alamo, 57, over to the higher court for trial on the child-abuse charge, which carries a maximum penalty of six years in prison.
Alamo, whose real name is Bernie L. Hoffman, was a fugitive for three years until his arrest on the charge 11 months ago in Florida.
He remains free on $250,000 bail pending trial.
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