An Arkansas judge awarded more than half a billion dollars to seven former child brides of Tony Alamo who were physically, emotionally and sexually abused.
Miller County Circuit Judge Kirk Johnson made a default judgment against Tony Alamo and Twenty First Century Holiness Tabernacle Church, an arm of Alamo Ministries, after Alamo refused to respond to the civil lawsuit.
In the judgment, Johnson wrote that Tony Alamo and his church acted ‘willfully and maliciously’ against the girls. One of the victims was reportedly forcibly married to Alamo at 8 and sexually and physically abused at the age of 9, until she was able to escape at 15. The victim, whose name is being withheld as is typical for victims of sexual assault, goes on to describe that Alamo would also force older wives to beat younger wives, or else earn beatings themselves.
Tony Alamo has received a 175-year prison sentence on sex-related convictions, reports Fox News.
The victims' attorney, David Carter, believes this to be the biggest personal injury judgment in the history of Arkansas, according to Daily Mail. It was revealed that water rights on property that Alamo holds in Santa Clarita, Calif. are worth billions of dollars, and Carter plans to have a judgment in California to have the property sold to satisfy the $525 million judgment.
Tony Alamo was a televangelist in the 1970s. His second wife, Susan, died of cancer in 1982. He built a heart-shaped mausoleum and displayed her body for 16 years before returning her remains to her family. He forced his followers to pray over her body as he expected her to resurrect.