LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — Parents or followers of a jailed evangelist have been hiding children sought by state welfare officials, the state director of human resources said Wednesday.
John Selig said the Tony Alamo Christian Ministries routinely ferries members across the nation to churches in California and elsewhere. The practice and the ministry’s secrecy have stymied officials trying to find as many as 100 children named in court orders allowing the state to take them into protective custody, he said.
Alamo is said to have ministries and business operations in a number of states, including Colorado, New Jersey, Oklahoma and Tennessee.
Alamo, 74, remains held without bail on a 10-count federal indictment accusing him of violating the Mann Act when he allegedly took five young girls across state lines for sex. The preacher has denied the allegations.
