LOS ANGELES : Evangelist Alamo Won’t Face Child Abuse Charges

Prosecutors have decided not to pursue a child abuse case against flamboyant evangelist Tony Alamo because of a six-year federal prison sentence he received last year for tax evasion, authorities said.

Alamo was accused of ordering followers at his Saugus church in 1988 to paddle a misbehaving 11-year-old boy about 140 times. The evangelist’s case has been frequently delayed because he was a fugitive for two years and was then tried and convicted on the tax charges.

Alamo probably would have served only five months in state prison if convicted of child abuse and child endangerment charges, Deputy Dist. Atty. John Asari said. He said that was not a long enough addition to the federal prison sentence to fight what would have been a difficult trial.

Jeremiah Miller, now 18, won $550,000 in damages in a civil lawsuit in 1990 over the incident.

“We’re very pleased that there was a decision, but it took a long time for it,” said Alamo’s attorney, Susan James. She added that Alamo, who is in prison in Florence, Colo., continues to deny any involvement in the beating.