1 00:00:01,535 --> 00:00:04,203 I believe Tony Alamo to be probably one of 2 00:00:04,271 --> 00:00:06,171 the more evil human beings 3 00:00:06,240 --> 00:00:08,173 that United States has seen. 4 00:00:09,410 --> 00:00:11,677 I want to be here to tell this story 5 00:00:11,746 --> 00:00:13,712 to set the record straight 6 00:00:13,748 --> 00:00:17,950 and to shed light on the nature of this cult 7 00:00:19,286 --> 00:00:22,621 and the atrocities that he committed in the name of God. 8 00:00:29,096 --> 00:00:31,163 A year or two after I had escaped, 9 00:00:31,231 --> 00:00:33,944 I purchased a gun 10 00:00:33,968 --> 00:00:37,914 and was going to drive down to Arkansas, 11 00:00:37,938 --> 00:00:39,671 and I was going to try to kill him. 12 00:00:41,375 --> 00:00:45,144 He was a monster of epic proportion. 13 00:00:45,212 --> 00:00:47,679 The way he terrorized human beings, 14 00:00:47,781 --> 00:00:49,148 it was second to none. 15 00:00:50,317 --> 00:00:54,019 I would call him a sadistic 16 00:00:54,055 --> 00:00:57,367 narcissistic sociopath. 17 00:00:57,391 --> 00:01:01,493 And he used religion as a cover. 18 00:02:00,087 --> 00:02:02,087 Tony and Susan Alamo, 19 00:02:02,123 --> 00:02:06,592 probably in the early '70s, 20 00:02:06,660 --> 00:02:10,362 and I see the congregation in back of them. 21 00:02:10,397 --> 00:02:12,042 In 1969, 22 00:02:12,066 --> 00:02:15,134 Tony and Susan Alamo married each other and also 23 00:02:15,169 --> 00:02:18,137 incorporated the Tony and Susan Alamo Christian Foundation. 24 00:02:18,205 --> 00:02:23,353 At this point, they've probably got 300 to 500 followers. 25 00:02:23,377 --> 00:02:27,279 I think they saw themselves as parents, in a way. 26 00:02:28,282 --> 00:02:31,183 Everyone called Tony Alamo Papa Tony, 27 00:02:31,218 --> 00:02:34,086 and most people called Susan Alamo Grandma Susie, 28 00:02:34,154 --> 00:02:36,889 and then all of the people inside the church, 29 00:02:36,957 --> 00:02:39,725 we called them brother and sister. 30 00:02:39,793 --> 00:02:43,206 Tony is pictured here without his dark glasses. 31 00:02:43,230 --> 00:02:45,976 He's smiling. He looks like a pretty regular guy. 32 00:02:46,000 --> 00:02:50,469 But he was an evil, sadistic, megalomaniac, 33 00:02:50,537 --> 00:02:52,938 narcissistic monster. 34 00:03:14,495 --> 00:03:18,430 As a child, I did not know my biological mother. 35 00:03:18,465 --> 00:03:22,601 I grew up believing that my mother was an evil person. 36 00:03:23,470 --> 00:03:27,117 One of the things that I would hear often from the pulpit was 37 00:03:27,141 --> 00:03:29,352 that my mother was an adulterer, 38 00:03:29,376 --> 00:03:31,354 and that she left the group, 39 00:03:31,378 --> 00:03:34,012 and that she had died and gone to hell. 40 00:03:35,316 --> 00:03:38,884 As a result, I grew up passed around from family to family. 41 00:03:38,952 --> 00:03:42,432 My relationship with my father was spotty at best. 42 00:03:42,456 --> 00:03:46,658 Tony Alamo sent the men away and kept them working, 43 00:03:46,760 --> 00:03:48,160 and the children in turn had to look 44 00:03:48,228 --> 00:03:50,662 to Tony as their father figure. 45 00:03:53,033 --> 00:03:54,844 The rule was that everyone had to go 46 00:03:54,868 --> 00:03:57,603 to at least one service every single day. 47 00:03:58,839 --> 00:04:00,550 When Tony Alamo would preach, 48 00:04:00,574 --> 00:04:03,108 he would start walking around in a circle. 49 00:04:15,856 --> 00:04:18,001 He was a commanding figure. 50 00:04:18,025 --> 00:04:21,326 He always wore these dark sunglasses so you couldn't see 51 00:04:21,395 --> 00:04:24,074 into his eyes, and he said 52 00:04:24,098 --> 00:04:27,666 he was the prophet of God, and he said that he spoke to 53 00:04:27,735 --> 00:04:29,701 and heard God's voice. 54 00:04:38,112 --> 00:04:42,814 Tony Alamo's religious style was... extreme fear 55 00:04:42,883 --> 00:04:45,684 was the cornerstone of his doctrine. 56 00:04:45,819 --> 00:04:48,787 When Tony talked about hellfire and brimstone, 57 00:04:48,822 --> 00:04:51,290 I used to have really bad nightmares. 58 00:05:01,068 --> 00:05:04,948 Tony Alamo's sermons were full of hate and conspiracies, 59 00:05:04,972 --> 00:05:07,372 against the Catholic church, conspiracies against 60 00:05:07,441 --> 00:05:08,907 the United States government, 61 00:05:08,975 --> 00:05:14,179 and hate for anyone that was not in our organization. 62 00:05:24,758 --> 00:05:28,171 He positioned himself to be the savior. 63 00:05:28,195 --> 00:05:32,175 The only place for salvation was inside of our organization. 64 00:05:32,199 --> 00:05:34,399 People outside in the world were not saved, 65 00:05:34,468 --> 00:05:36,168 and they were all going to hell. 66 00:05:37,338 --> 00:05:39,171 I don't remember a single individual 67 00:05:39,239 --> 00:05:42,007 ever questioning Tony Alamo's connection to God. 68 00:05:43,177 --> 00:05:45,177 We believed everything he said. 69 00:05:50,951 --> 00:05:54,686 In Arkansas alone, we had 29 businesses, um, 70 00:05:54,788 --> 00:05:56,733 that employed only church members. 71 00:05:56,757 --> 00:05:59,269 Everyone who worked turned over their paychecks. 72 00:05:59,293 --> 00:06:02,127 Tony said you were giving it to God. 73 00:06:02,195 --> 00:06:06,209 Additionally, in 1985, Tony Alamo started 74 00:06:06,233 --> 00:06:07,844 designing Rhinestone jackets 75 00:06:07,868 --> 00:06:09,479 that he was selling throughout the United States. 76 00:06:09,503 --> 00:06:13,572 Those jackets were made by the members of the church. 77 00:06:15,943 --> 00:06:19,044 The children of the church did the rhinestone settings. 78 00:06:19,112 --> 00:06:21,913 We would work from, say, after dinner, 79 00:06:21,982 --> 00:06:25,829 say five o'clock to midnight, and... or even later, 80 00:06:25,853 --> 00:06:27,419 sometimes at two a.m. in the morning. 81 00:06:27,454 --> 00:06:30,967 And we would be put in small rooms where you'd 82 00:06:30,991 --> 00:06:35,060 have, like, 10 to 15 kids at a desk, 83 00:06:35,128 --> 00:06:37,963 and they'd all have little trays, and we'd have to set 84 00:06:37,998 --> 00:06:41,266 hundreds, if not thousands, of these rhinestones 85 00:06:41,335 --> 00:06:44,302 in... in the metal casing, and the metal casings 86 00:06:44,371 --> 00:06:46,071 had really sharp ends on the end. 87 00:06:46,139 --> 00:06:48,206 So our fingers were always cut and bloody. 88 00:06:48,275 --> 00:06:54,112 But we thought of this as a godly pursuit. 89 00:06:54,148 --> 00:06:57,949 We thought we were making money so that we could fight 90 00:06:58,018 --> 00:07:00,886 the beast, so that we could fight the one world government. 91 00:07:00,954 --> 00:07:05,357 So we did this with... With gusto, with enthusiasm. 92 00:07:05,425 --> 00:07:07,659 It was a privilege to go do this, 93 00:07:07,761 --> 00:07:09,528 because we didn't know anything else. 94 00:07:12,533 --> 00:07:15,567 A lot of celebrities bought these jackets. 95 00:07:15,635 --> 00:07:18,470 I know for a fact that Don King wears them. 96 00:07:18,538 --> 00:07:19,849 Mr T. wears them. 97 00:07:19,873 --> 00:07:22,073 Nicki Minaj has worn them. 98 00:07:22,142 --> 00:07:27,012 Miley Cyrus was photographed wearing this, and the children 99 00:07:27,080 --> 00:07:28,558 never got a penny for making 100 00:07:28,582 --> 00:07:32,417 any of these, and Tony Alamo made millions of dollars off of 101 00:07:32,453 --> 00:07:34,252 these, literally millions. 102 00:07:44,565 --> 00:07:47,766 One time, a seamstress who had been working on these jackets 103 00:07:47,801 --> 00:07:49,234 came in to explain 104 00:07:49,269 --> 00:07:53,016 to Tony Alamo that this portion right here was too tight. 105 00:07:53,040 --> 00:07:55,040 They were like this. 106 00:07:55,141 --> 00:07:57,821 And when you put the jacket on, you couldn't move your arm. 107 00:07:57,845 --> 00:08:00,345 She questioned him, and no one questioned 108 00:08:00,413 --> 00:08:03,482 this man without some sort of repercussion. 109 00:08:03,550 --> 00:08:06,885 I was nearby playing with some toys. 110 00:08:06,953 --> 00:08:10,021 I have a suggestion about the jackets. 111 00:08:10,090 --> 00:08:14,326 We need to open up the seams here more so that they can move. 112 00:08:16,864 --> 00:08:19,831 Tony became irate, accusing her of not being 113 00:08:19,900 --> 00:08:22,479 connected to the spiritual nature 114 00:08:22,503 --> 00:08:26,349 of the design and that she had to get her soul right with God. 115 00:08:26,373 --> 00:08:29,975 And when she still persisted, saying this design 116 00:08:30,043 --> 00:08:31,977 doesn't work, he accused her 117 00:08:32,012 --> 00:08:34,446 of essentially being filled with the devil. 118 00:08:34,514 --> 00:08:36,248 Are you questioning the word of the Lord? 119 00:08:40,187 --> 00:08:44,189 That startled me, and I obviously focused on Tony 120 00:08:44,258 --> 00:08:47,070 to see what he was gonna do next. 121 00:08:47,094 --> 00:08:49,094 This design came from God. 122 00:08:49,162 --> 00:08:50,862 You understand me?! 123 00:08:50,931 --> 00:08:53,965 And he's, you know, like pointing at her, and he's 124 00:08:54,001 --> 00:08:56,902 telling her, "You're not filled with the spirit of God." 125 00:08:56,937 --> 00:08:59,148 You know, "I am filled with the spirit of God." 126 00:08:59,172 --> 00:09:01,673 You know, "I am the apple of God's eye." 127 00:09:01,742 --> 00:09:04,009 You know, "How dare you bring this to me." 128 00:09:04,077 --> 00:09:05,944 You're a damn disgrace, you know that? 129 00:09:06,012 --> 00:09:09,681 He was just so angry at her for questioning him. 130 00:09:09,750 --> 00:09:11,483 The majority of people who lived 131 00:09:11,551 --> 00:09:13,285 on the property were afraid of Tony. 132 00:09:14,988 --> 00:09:16,521 You go and pray. 133 00:09:16,557 --> 00:09:19,302 Something would trigger him, and he would go from being, 134 00:09:19,326 --> 00:09:21,459 like, a nice sort of 135 00:09:21,495 --> 00:09:24,963 cordial guy, and then in an instant, he would just flip. 136 00:09:36,443 --> 00:09:39,210 One of the first times that I really saw Tony was 137 00:09:39,246 --> 00:09:41,680 beating people, I think I was eight years old. 138 00:09:43,383 --> 00:09:47,096 I saw a boy who was three years older than me 139 00:09:47,120 --> 00:09:52,035 walking by himself, and the way he was walking, he was limping, 140 00:09:52,059 --> 00:09:56,127 he was, like, almost dragging his leg but he was hunched over. 141 00:09:56,196 --> 00:09:57,740 Flynn! 142 00:09:57,764 --> 00:09:59,130 He was a close friend of mine, 143 00:09:59,199 --> 00:10:02,033 So I ran up to him, and I said, "Hey, what's going on? 144 00:10:02,102 --> 00:10:03,112 What happened to you?" 145 00:10:03,136 --> 00:10:06,249 And he said, "Get away from me, because Papa Tony 146 00:10:06,273 --> 00:10:07,939 just beat the devil out of me." 147 00:10:08,008 --> 00:10:09,307 I didn't understand. 148 00:10:09,376 --> 00:10:11,176 What are you talking about? 149 00:10:11,244 --> 00:10:12,989 And so I pressed him a little more, and I said, 150 00:10:13,013 --> 00:10:14,312 "Why are you walking this way?" 151 00:10:14,381 --> 00:10:17,015 And he said, "Papa Tony just beat me with a belt." 152 00:10:17,083 --> 00:10:19,017 And he lifted up his shirt. 153 00:10:20,187 --> 00:10:23,521 And he had red welts on his back. 154 00:10:23,557 --> 00:10:25,457 That was one of the first times I had seen 155 00:10:25,525 --> 00:10:28,460 blood and marks on a child. 156 00:10:28,495 --> 00:10:30,495 He told me that all he did, 157 00:10:30,563 --> 00:10:32,909 he had a note that he passed 158 00:10:32,933 --> 00:10:36,301 a girl in class, Tony found out about that. 159 00:10:36,369 --> 00:10:38,670 Why would he do that? 160 00:10:38,772 --> 00:10:40,372 Because I have Satan in me. 161 00:10:40,440 --> 00:10:42,107 When my friend told me to leave him 162 00:10:42,175 --> 00:10:43,453 alone for fear that I would be 163 00:10:43,477 --> 00:10:45,310 beaten for spending time with him, 164 00:10:45,378 --> 00:10:50,215 I thought there's no way I could be beaten like that. 165 00:10:50,250 --> 00:10:53,618 I did not think that could ever happen to me. 166 00:11:17,444 --> 00:11:20,356 Fear was the primary motivator in the church. 167 00:11:20,380 --> 00:11:22,714 Tony Alamo was 168 00:11:22,849 --> 00:11:27,263 crystal clear that God spoke to him, and because God spoke to 169 00:11:27,287 --> 00:11:29,220 him and God knew what we were thinking, 170 00:11:29,256 --> 00:11:32,590 he told him what we were thinking. 171 00:11:33,460 --> 00:11:37,874 And, as a child, I grew up believing that if 172 00:11:37,898 --> 00:11:42,567 I had an impure thought, God was telling him these things. 173 00:11:42,602 --> 00:11:47,372 An impure thought could range from anything from thinking 174 00:11:47,407 --> 00:11:51,843 your parents didn't know what they were talking about, 175 00:11:51,911 --> 00:11:55,680 to something lustful, 176 00:11:55,782 --> 00:11:59,884 and if I had an impure thought, we were 177 00:11:59,953 --> 00:12:02,265 taught to say this mantra... 178 00:12:02,289 --> 00:12:05,457 The blood of Jesus is against you, Satan. 179 00:12:05,525 --> 00:12:08,093 And you kept saying that, and you kept saying it 180 00:12:08,161 --> 00:12:10,628 and saying it until your thoughts were cleared. 181 00:12:12,866 --> 00:12:15,266 The blood of Jesus is against you, Satan. 182 00:12:15,335 --> 00:12:17,880 The blood of Jesus is against you, Satan. 183 00:12:17,904 --> 00:12:20,972 We would often be walking around the property, 184 00:12:21,040 --> 00:12:22,574 and you would just hear people 185 00:12:22,642 --> 00:12:24,353 saying, "The blood of Jesus against you, Satan," 186 00:12:24,377 --> 00:12:25,677 and you would know 187 00:12:25,746 --> 00:12:28,313 that person was thinking something, and they had to 188 00:12:28,381 --> 00:12:29,781 cleanse their mind. 189 00:12:29,849 --> 00:12:32,350 The blood of Jesus is against you, Satan. 190 00:12:33,286 --> 00:12:36,588 We were trained to tattle on each other. 191 00:12:39,926 --> 00:12:42,460 So you had to be careful when you said it. 192 00:12:42,529 --> 00:12:45,063 Oftentimes, I would say it under my breath. 193 00:12:45,131 --> 00:12:47,432 If somebody had heard me saying the blood of Jesus 194 00:12:47,467 --> 00:12:48,500 against you Satan, 195 00:12:48,535 --> 00:12:50,401 they had an opportunity to ask me, 196 00:12:50,470 --> 00:12:52,837 "Why are you saying the blood of Jesus?" 197 00:12:52,906 --> 00:12:54,939 Which would then open me up to ex... 198 00:12:55,008 --> 00:12:58,510 Explaining to them that I had sinned, and if I had sinned, 199 00:12:58,545 --> 00:13:00,945 then they could put me on report. 200 00:13:01,014 --> 00:13:02,947 There were repercussions for that. 201 00:13:03,016 --> 00:13:06,217 It would get back to Tony that somebody was having impure 202 00:13:06,286 --> 00:13:08,520 thoughts, and then he would... 203 00:13:08,588 --> 00:13:11,256 He would eventually deal with them in his own way. 204 00:13:24,004 --> 00:13:27,906 Tony had a clipboard in the office that had a list 205 00:13:27,974 --> 00:13:30,887 of all of the reports, and he called it the reports list. 206 00:13:30,911 --> 00:13:33,511 Everyone knew that if your name ended up on 207 00:13:33,580 --> 00:13:36,047 the reports list that something was gonna happen 208 00:13:36,115 --> 00:13:37,115 to you. 209 00:13:37,250 --> 00:13:39,984 When Tony would read from the report list, 210 00:13:40,053 --> 00:13:42,465 he always made sure there were groups of people, 211 00:13:42,489 --> 00:13:45,990 large groups of people, and you saw it all. 212 00:13:48,829 --> 00:13:53,331 Once, there was a mother with her son, and the son had 213 00:13:53,399 --> 00:13:57,113 reported his mother, saying that she had misinterpreted 214 00:13:57,137 --> 00:13:58,837 two verses in the Bible. 215 00:13:58,872 --> 00:14:01,105 Your son says that you tried to teach him 216 00:14:01,141 --> 00:14:03,942 - the verses of King Saul. - Yes. 217 00:14:04,811 --> 00:14:07,679 And Tony became irate, 218 00:14:07,780 --> 00:14:10,014 told her that she had no right to interpret the Bible. 219 00:14:10,049 --> 00:14:12,016 He told her that she was a sweat hog. 220 00:14:13,353 --> 00:14:15,832 He often used to call women sweat hogs. 221 00:14:15,856 --> 00:14:17,333 You make me sick. 222 00:14:17,357 --> 00:14:19,257 He told the child to go up to 223 00:14:19,292 --> 00:14:22,093 his mom and hit his mom in the face... 224 00:14:24,030 --> 00:14:25,697 and to tell her, "May the devil 225 00:14:25,866 --> 00:14:28,499 be driven from you," and then smack her. 226 00:14:30,537 --> 00:14:33,416 And the child smacks his mom, barely 227 00:14:33,440 --> 00:14:36,786 smacking her, and Tony said, "No, harder." 228 00:14:36,810 --> 00:14:38,108 Do it again. 229 00:14:38,178 --> 00:14:41,813 The child hits the mother again... this time, 230 00:14:41,848 --> 00:14:43,225 it's a little harder, but still not hard. 231 00:14:43,249 --> 00:14:46,184 And Tony says, "If you don't hit her hard enough that the demon 232 00:14:46,252 --> 00:14:48,965 is hit out of her, I'm gonna beat you." 233 00:14:48,989 --> 00:14:51,189 Harder! 234 00:14:54,628 --> 00:14:57,540 So the child hits his mother as hard as he can. 235 00:14:57,564 --> 00:15:00,509 Mother is crying. The child is crying. 236 00:15:00,533 --> 00:15:02,200 I'm standing there watching this, 237 00:15:02,268 --> 00:15:06,004 just like not able to believe my own eyes. 238 00:15:07,941 --> 00:15:10,875 And Tony was just delighted, 239 00:15:10,944 --> 00:15:15,513 just happy, smiling from ear to ear. 240 00:15:15,615 --> 00:15:19,996 Tony Alamo is now ordering children to commit violent acts. 241 00:15:20,020 --> 00:15:23,021 And the Bible says, "Lay your hands on no one." 242 00:15:23,089 --> 00:15:25,957 The Bible says to not smite anybody. 243 00:15:26,025 --> 00:15:29,994 So I began to see that and look at the Bible and say, 244 00:15:30,030 --> 00:15:32,196 "This doesn't make sense. 245 00:15:32,265 --> 00:15:34,710 What he's saying doesn't line up." 246 00:15:34,734 --> 00:15:37,535 But if I had moments of doubt, 247 00:15:37,603 --> 00:15:41,150 the only thing I would think was that I was evil. 248 00:15:41,174 --> 00:15:43,019 You know, I was the one that 249 00:15:43,043 --> 00:15:46,110 had the problem, because Tony was the prophet. 250 00:15:57,057 --> 00:16:00,525 Because I was special in Tony's eyes, 251 00:16:00,593 --> 00:16:04,595 I knew that Tony would take my word over other kids' words 252 00:16:04,697 --> 00:16:05,997 and often over other 253 00:16:06,065 --> 00:16:09,934 adults' words, and I used that advantage in the reporting 254 00:16:10,036 --> 00:16:12,904 system to seek revenge against people. 255 00:16:18,745 --> 00:16:22,046 When I was about 12 years old, 256 00:16:22,082 --> 00:16:26,317 my friend and I managed to get a hold of the teacher's edition 257 00:16:26,353 --> 00:16:31,255 of our science book, and we took it into the boys' bathroom 258 00:16:31,291 --> 00:16:34,092 and we're looking at the anatomy of a woman. 259 00:16:34,160 --> 00:16:36,060 We had never seen anything like it. 260 00:16:36,096 --> 00:16:38,496 - And our teacher caught us. - Boys? 261 00:16:38,564 --> 00:16:40,376 What's going on in here? 262 00:16:40,400 --> 00:16:44,280 And he threatened to put us on report. 263 00:16:44,304 --> 00:16:46,082 You know I'm going to have to tell Tony about this. 264 00:16:46,106 --> 00:16:50,586 So I began to sort of mimic what Tony Alamo 265 00:16:50,610 --> 00:16:54,278 was doing, using fear and retribution 266 00:16:54,347 --> 00:16:55,980 as a control method. 267 00:16:56,049 --> 00:16:58,116 I'll tell Tony you gave it to us. 268 00:16:58,184 --> 00:17:02,253 I told him that if he put me on report, 269 00:17:02,321 --> 00:17:05,223 that I would report him for giving me the book. 270 00:17:05,291 --> 00:17:06,702 I would basically lie about it. 271 00:17:06,726 --> 00:17:08,092 You wouldn't dare. 272 00:17:08,128 --> 00:17:11,929 Didn't Papa Tony tell you to rip out those pages anyway? 273 00:17:11,998 --> 00:17:15,011 He was supposed to have taken a black pen and blotted out 274 00:17:15,035 --> 00:17:17,001 the anatomy, but he didn't do that. 275 00:17:17,070 --> 00:17:19,248 So that would have got him in trouble. 276 00:17:19,272 --> 00:17:21,939 I won't say anything if you won't. 277 00:17:22,008 --> 00:17:24,442 Because he realized my status with Tony, 278 00:17:24,510 --> 00:17:26,544 he agreed not to say anything. 279 00:17:33,019 --> 00:17:34,897 But then, a week later, I got 280 00:17:34,921 --> 00:17:37,989 put on report for not doing my homework. 281 00:17:38,024 --> 00:17:40,892 I then ratted on him and said that he left 282 00:17:40,960 --> 00:17:44,495 the book in a place where me and my friend could get it. 283 00:17:44,564 --> 00:17:47,410 He's lying. I never gave him that book. 284 00:17:47,434 --> 00:17:49,901 He called me a liar in front of Tony, 285 00:17:49,969 --> 00:17:52,703 and Tony was like, "No, Benji doesn't lie." 286 00:17:53,573 --> 00:17:58,309 Benji has God's blessing. I believe his word. 287 00:17:58,377 --> 00:18:03,292 So the teacher was eventually beaten. 288 00:18:03,316 --> 00:18:04,382 Get him out of here. 289 00:18:04,450 --> 00:18:06,818 No. No. Benji, Benji, tell him the truth. 290 00:18:06,853 --> 00:18:09,487 Tell him the truth, Benji. Please, tell him the truth! 291 00:18:09,522 --> 00:18:12,390 I witnessed him getting ten swats. 292 00:18:12,458 --> 00:18:16,394 He was bent over a table while a man with 293 00:18:16,462 --> 00:18:19,197 a pretty big board hit him 10 times in the butt. 294 00:18:20,200 --> 00:18:22,333 It was one of the first times that I began to get 295 00:18:22,401 --> 00:18:25,047 a taste for power. 296 00:18:25,071 --> 00:18:29,140 When I lied to Tony about other people, 297 00:18:29,208 --> 00:18:32,922 I had a feeling of euphoria, 298 00:18:32,946 --> 00:18:36,926 of power, that I had never experienced before. 299 00:18:36,950 --> 00:18:38,916 I enjoyed it, 300 00:18:38,985 --> 00:18:42,019 and I remember feeling invincible. 301 00:18:51,865 --> 00:18:55,566 And Tony took me from one doctor to another, 302 00:18:55,602 --> 00:18:59,670 and finally, they found it... It was breast cancer. 303 00:19:12,152 --> 00:19:13,951 Because Jesus died, 304 00:19:14,020 --> 00:19:17,688 I can live, and I will live. 305 00:19:19,592 --> 00:19:23,072 Susan was the spiritual guru, if you will. 306 00:19:23,096 --> 00:19:27,331 I think she was a con artist, but not evil. 307 00:19:28,401 --> 00:19:31,714 She definitely wanted to advance her agenda, 308 00:19:31,738 --> 00:19:34,338 and she wanted to have wealth. 309 00:19:34,407 --> 00:19:36,207 I don't think she wanted to hurt people. 310 00:19:41,814 --> 00:19:44,960 The day she died, they brought her into the church and put her 311 00:19:44,984 --> 00:19:48,953 in a casket, an open casket, and everybody came and said 312 00:19:48,988 --> 00:19:50,655 their... their respects. 313 00:19:52,058 --> 00:19:55,137 Tony and Sue prepared the ministry for Susan's death 314 00:19:55,161 --> 00:20:00,097 by saying that she would eventually raise from the dead. 315 00:20:01,134 --> 00:20:04,535 During the first three days after Susan's death, 316 00:20:04,604 --> 00:20:07,716 our entire ministry, we were praying, 317 00:20:07,740 --> 00:20:10,286 and it was almost nonstop. 318 00:20:10,310 --> 00:20:13,844 I believed with all my heart and all my soul, as did all 319 00:20:13,913 --> 00:20:15,113 the other people in the church, 320 00:20:15,148 --> 00:20:17,081 that she would come back from the dead 321 00:20:17,149 --> 00:20:18,683 three days after her death. 322 00:20:21,120 --> 00:20:23,654 When Susan didn't resurrect, 323 00:20:23,756 --> 00:20:28,226 on the third day, Tony immediately began to blame 324 00:20:28,294 --> 00:20:29,527 the congregation. 325 00:20:29,562 --> 00:20:32,330 - They didn't believe enough. - It's because of you 326 00:20:32,365 --> 00:20:34,710 she's still lying there, because of your 327 00:20:34,734 --> 00:20:37,702 sinful hearts and your lack of faith! 328 00:20:37,870 --> 00:20:40,349 We kept praying over her body 329 00:20:40,373 --> 00:20:44,141 for six months, in an open coffin, 330 00:20:44,210 --> 00:20:47,411 around the clock, 24 hours a day. 331 00:20:47,447 --> 00:20:50,081 Nobody is leaving this room until their prayers 332 00:20:50,149 --> 00:20:51,782 reach heaven. 333 00:20:51,851 --> 00:20:54,452 After Susan Alamo died, and she didn't raise from 334 00:20:54,520 --> 00:20:57,733 the dead, I began to... To really question what 335 00:20:57,757 --> 00:21:00,925 Tony Alamo was preaching. 336 00:21:00,993 --> 00:21:02,326 It was a big moment of doubt. 337 00:21:03,997 --> 00:21:06,742 That's when I initially began to say, 338 00:21:06,766 --> 00:21:10,034 "He said she was coming back, and she hasn't come back. 339 00:21:10,102 --> 00:21:11,669 He must be a false prophet." 340 00:21:23,950 --> 00:21:29,231 One of my friends, who was African-American, 341 00:21:29,255 --> 00:21:34,136 got caught doubting Tony's veracity as a prophet. 342 00:21:34,160 --> 00:21:38,696 His stepdad was the one that had found out about 343 00:21:38,865 --> 00:21:42,900 his stepson's thoughts, and so he put his own son on report. 344 00:21:42,968 --> 00:21:45,102 Your father tells me that you doubt 345 00:21:45,171 --> 00:21:47,182 that I hear the voice of God. 346 00:21:47,206 --> 00:21:48,839 When my friend first got 347 00:21:48,908 --> 00:21:51,609 called in he told Tony, "Yeah, I don't think you're a true 348 00:21:51,644 --> 00:21:54,378 prophet, because your prophecy didn't come true." 349 00:21:54,447 --> 00:21:56,981 Take a hold of the sinner. 350 00:21:57,049 --> 00:21:59,795 Tony congratulated the dad, saying, "Thank you for 351 00:21:59,819 --> 00:22:01,096 reporting this." 352 00:22:01,120 --> 00:22:05,156 You know, "We have to drive the devil out of this child." 353 00:22:05,257 --> 00:22:08,025 He got beat pretty bad that day. 354 00:22:10,229 --> 00:22:11,529 They would count the beating... 355 00:22:11,597 --> 00:22:13,142 Three! 356 00:22:13,166 --> 00:22:17,046 ...and close to 30, he just couldn't take it anymore. 357 00:22:17,070 --> 00:22:20,015 He started moving around a lot, too much, and whenever 358 00:22:20,039 --> 00:22:22,206 they would move, they would start the beating over. 359 00:22:22,274 --> 00:22:24,675 Thirty would end up turning into 60, 360 00:22:25,511 --> 00:22:29,792 and I watched it just imagining that it would have 361 00:22:29,816 --> 00:22:34,218 been me, because he believed the same exact thing as me, 362 00:22:34,286 --> 00:22:37,154 but he had the courage to say something, and I didn't. 363 00:22:46,899 --> 00:22:50,701 Around 1992, he began to preach about polygamy. 364 00:22:50,870 --> 00:22:53,270 And over the years, Tony collected... 365 00:22:54,374 --> 00:22:56,674 multiple spiritual wives. 366 00:22:56,776 --> 00:23:00,144 The last count that I heard of was 24. 367 00:23:00,212 --> 00:23:04,382 Almost all of them were under the age of 16 years old, 368 00:23:04,450 --> 00:23:06,884 the majority of them. 369 00:23:06,919 --> 00:23:11,500 He slowly began to groom these women and his followers 370 00:23:11,524 --> 00:23:13,502 so that they would believe 371 00:23:13,526 --> 00:23:16,694 that marriage and sex with him was 372 00:23:16,829 --> 00:23:18,763 appropriate and sanctioned by God. 373 00:23:35,615 --> 00:23:37,915 As Tony began to progress in marrying 374 00:23:37,983 --> 00:23:39,023 younger and younger women, 375 00:23:39,051 --> 00:23:44,199 he went on to say that puberty was consent, 376 00:23:44,223 --> 00:23:47,792 that once a girl reached puberty, that that was 377 00:23:47,860 --> 00:23:53,297 her body consenting to sexual relationships with her husband. 378 00:23:53,365 --> 00:23:57,134 Tony Alamo justified both polygamy and marriage to 379 00:23:57,203 --> 00:24:01,238 underage girls by finding verses in the Bible. 380 00:24:01,307 --> 00:24:04,708 He quotes multiple sources in the Old Testament 381 00:24:04,911 --> 00:24:07,711 where different kings had multiple wives. 382 00:24:16,289 --> 00:24:18,289 Tony began 383 00:24:18,324 --> 00:24:20,803 doing this thing with the young girls, 384 00:24:20,827 --> 00:24:22,326 young girls as young as eight. 385 00:24:22,394 --> 00:24:25,663 He would invite them over to his house for Bible reading 386 00:24:25,798 --> 00:24:28,666 and Bible education for either a night, 387 00:24:28,734 --> 00:24:31,335 a weekend, or even sometimes a week. 388 00:24:42,381 --> 00:24:43,992 When the girls went over for Bible study, 389 00:24:44,016 --> 00:24:46,116 I didn't think anything of it... When Tony would 390 00:24:46,185 --> 00:24:48,397 select a child for this sort of Bible reading, 391 00:24:48,421 --> 00:24:51,856 it was an esteemed thing, because Tony was the prophet, 392 00:24:51,924 --> 00:24:53,691 and the adults were 393 00:24:53,860 --> 00:24:56,805 happy that their child was selected to spend time with 394 00:24:56,829 --> 00:24:58,128 the prophet of God. 395 00:25:07,440 --> 00:25:12,309 Years later, I found out that Tony had multiple 396 00:25:12,378 --> 00:25:16,325 houses whereby these women were being held 397 00:25:16,349 --> 00:25:17,615 against their will. 398 00:25:38,838 --> 00:25:41,950 In this recording, you can hear him saying, "Amen." 399 00:25:41,974 --> 00:25:45,976 Amen is a code for, "You agree." 400 00:25:46,012 --> 00:25:48,145 And he even says, "Right, Amen?" 401 00:25:48,213 --> 00:25:49,880 Like, "You agree with me?" 402 00:25:49,949 --> 00:25:53,083 He's getting the followers 403 00:25:53,152 --> 00:25:55,920 to regurgitate and to process 404 00:25:55,988 --> 00:25:58,489 what he's programming them to believe. 405 00:25:58,557 --> 00:26:02,026 He was a master at that. 406 00:26:02,094 --> 00:26:06,141 He keeps mentioning if these men of God 407 00:26:06,165 --> 00:26:09,567 wanted more women, that God would give them more. 408 00:26:09,635 --> 00:26:13,604 So he's trying to show his followers that he's okay, that 409 00:26:13,639 --> 00:26:16,941 it's okay for him to have as many women as he wants. 410 00:26:31,257 --> 00:26:34,736 It's disgusting to hear him use. 411 00:26:34,760 --> 00:26:37,661 Old Testament gospel to justify what he's doing. 412 00:26:37,796 --> 00:26:43,545 This is the man that I learned to hate over time. 413 00:26:43,569 --> 00:26:46,670 But it's also the man that I grew up loving 414 00:26:46,739 --> 00:26:49,006 and not knowing that he was 415 00:26:49,074 --> 00:26:52,176 such a monster until many years later. 416 00:27:05,758 --> 00:27:07,358 Oh, my. Okay. 417 00:27:10,196 --> 00:27:12,496 So this photo is... 418 00:27:14,300 --> 00:27:18,268 part of the entrance to the mansion that I grew up in. 419 00:27:18,337 --> 00:27:22,184 The doors that are shown here, in back of those doors is 420 00:27:22,208 --> 00:27:23,452 a room. 421 00:27:23,476 --> 00:27:27,044 Many horrific things happened in the room back there. 422 00:27:27,112 --> 00:27:29,713 The irony of this photo is that on the lefthand side 423 00:27:29,815 --> 00:27:31,293 of this... of these doors 424 00:27:31,317 --> 00:27:35,285 is a painting of Jesus Christ, and it looks 425 00:27:35,354 --> 00:27:38,889 like he's casting out Satan. 426 00:27:38,957 --> 00:27:42,459 The irony being that, on the other side of those doors, 427 00:27:42,495 --> 00:27:47,097 hundreds of children suffered unspeakable crimes 428 00:27:47,933 --> 00:27:51,179 and endured untold amount of pain. 429 00:27:51,203 --> 00:27:53,237 These are the doors I went through on 430 00:27:53,305 --> 00:27:55,717 that on the night that I was called in. 431 00:27:55,741 --> 00:27:56,952 When I exited, 432 00:27:56,976 --> 00:27:59,743 I was not the same person as when I had went in. 433 00:28:00,880 --> 00:28:03,347 I've been traumatized too much. 434 00:28:08,120 --> 00:28:12,656 Early one cold morning in November, I was woken 435 00:28:12,758 --> 00:28:15,492 up by this man saying that Tony wanted me. 436 00:28:17,329 --> 00:28:21,865 There was one section in that room that had a two-way mirror, 437 00:28:21,934 --> 00:28:23,111 and in the middle of the room 438 00:28:23,135 --> 00:28:27,438 was a desk, and on top of that was a solo speaker phone, 439 00:28:27,473 --> 00:28:30,908 and on that phone was Tony Alamo. 440 00:28:30,943 --> 00:28:35,212 Benji, you've been put on report for lustful touching. 441 00:28:35,280 --> 00:28:37,448 What do you have to say for yourself? 442 00:28:37,483 --> 00:28:41,685 Tony then began to question me and says, "One of the sisters 443 00:28:41,821 --> 00:28:45,300 "says that you touched another girl on her breast. 444 00:28:45,324 --> 00:28:49,204 Is that true? Did you really touch her?" 445 00:28:49,228 --> 00:28:52,996 And I was, like, trying to figure out how do I get out 446 00:28:53,065 --> 00:28:54,965 of it? So I immediately said... 447 00:28:55,033 --> 00:28:57,245 I... I did do it, 448 00:28:57,269 --> 00:29:00,404 but it was an accident. 449 00:29:00,439 --> 00:29:03,351 When the bus stopped once, I touched this girl, 450 00:29:03,375 --> 00:29:05,787 I fell into her, and I touched her breast. 451 00:29:05,811 --> 00:29:08,078 That wasn't the truth, obviously. 452 00:29:08,147 --> 00:29:12,249 In reality, she and I had been kind of going out for 453 00:29:12,317 --> 00:29:16,498 a year at the time, and he said, "Don't lie to me, Benji, 454 00:29:16,522 --> 00:29:19,701 "you know God talks to me, and your sisters have already 455 00:29:19,725 --> 00:29:21,425 reported you." 456 00:29:21,493 --> 00:29:24,228 You're a liar, and the devil must be beaten from you. 457 00:29:29,802 --> 00:29:31,312 You have no control over what's about to 458 00:29:31,336 --> 00:29:35,973 happen to you, and all you experience his pain. 459 00:29:36,041 --> 00:29:37,641 One man held me up in the air, 460 00:29:37,676 --> 00:29:41,512 and then a man took the "board of education" and... 461 00:29:41,547 --> 00:29:42,613 beat me with it. 462 00:29:51,490 --> 00:29:56,560 Uh, I don't have the words to express my disbelief at it, 463 00:29:56,628 --> 00:30:00,130 that another human being can do that to children. 464 00:30:04,236 --> 00:30:08,438 Yeah, I don't know... I don't know about that. 465 00:30:19,051 --> 00:30:20,250 Let me just take a minute. 466 00:30:25,257 --> 00:30:26,990 It's sad. 467 00:31:00,759 --> 00:31:03,738 Tony was preparing the congregation for 468 00:31:03,762 --> 00:31:05,662 the inevitable attack 469 00:31:05,764 --> 00:31:08,665 by the beast, as he put it, by the IRS, 470 00:31:08,734 --> 00:31:10,912 by peppering all of his sermons 471 00:31:10,936 --> 00:31:13,248 with things that would eventually occur, 472 00:31:13,272 --> 00:31:16,039 things like the seizure of our properties. 473 00:31:17,943 --> 00:31:19,943 And then it was a few months after that, 474 00:31:20,045 --> 00:31:21,445 that the IRS and the federal agents 475 00:31:21,513 --> 00:31:24,081 showed up on our property. 476 00:31:24,182 --> 00:31:27,417 And they came with guns, and it was like, this is the beast. 477 00:31:27,486 --> 00:31:31,121 So it appeared as if his prophecies were coming true. 478 00:31:31,189 --> 00:31:34,069 The agents told him that we had one week 479 00:31:34,093 --> 00:31:37,594 to leave the property or face being put in jail. 480 00:31:38,464 --> 00:31:39,975 Within one week, 481 00:31:39,999 --> 00:31:43,845 the 250- or 300-acre ranch property was 482 00:31:43,869 --> 00:31:45,335 completely abandoned. 483 00:31:47,506 --> 00:31:50,819 Tony Alamo was in hiding in Florida. 484 00:31:50,843 --> 00:31:54,311 My family planned on going to Long Island, 485 00:31:54,346 --> 00:31:57,214 where we would stay with our grandparents. 486 00:32:07,092 --> 00:32:11,962 Initially, I felt afraid, because I still thought 487 00:32:12,030 --> 00:32:14,431 the ground would open and swallow me alive. 488 00:32:14,499 --> 00:32:17,312 That was one of the things Tony used to preach was that 489 00:32:17,336 --> 00:32:18,969 any... if you left the church, 490 00:32:19,037 --> 00:32:21,049 that the ground would open up, and that's 491 00:32:21,073 --> 00:32:22,272 how you'd go to hell. 492 00:32:22,341 --> 00:32:25,342 And it took me a couple of weeks to actually walk on 493 00:32:25,410 --> 00:32:28,078 the asphalt until I realized, it's not gonna open up 494 00:32:28,113 --> 00:32:30,013 and swallow me alive. 495 00:32:30,082 --> 00:32:33,884 I began to literally and openly question 496 00:32:33,952 --> 00:32:36,687 the existence of God as I knew Him. 497 00:32:41,226 --> 00:32:44,039 I went to a roller skating rink and flirted with girls. 498 00:32:44,063 --> 00:32:45,462 I went to parties. 499 00:32:45,530 --> 00:32:50,167 I met friends, guys that took me out to play football 500 00:32:50,202 --> 00:32:53,337 and arcades and swimming pool parties, and you know, 501 00:32:53,405 --> 00:32:55,539 we just did things that kids did, 502 00:32:55,607 --> 00:32:59,142 and God didn't strike me down for that. 503 00:32:59,211 --> 00:33:03,280 For me, that represented 504 00:33:03,348 --> 00:33:06,828 a pivotal moment whereby 505 00:33:06,852 --> 00:33:09,453 I began to question Tony Alamo 506 00:33:09,488 --> 00:33:13,123 yet once again... Tony Alamo was a liar. 507 00:33:27,406 --> 00:33:30,407 About nine months after we had been living in Long Island, 508 00:33:30,442 --> 00:33:33,877 Tony ordered our family to go back to Arkansas to restart 509 00:33:33,912 --> 00:33:35,312 the church. 510 00:33:35,380 --> 00:33:39,449 Even though I was 16, my options were pretty limited. 511 00:33:39,518 --> 00:33:41,685 I didn't have a social security number. 512 00:33:41,787 --> 00:33:43,453 I couldn't stay on my own. 513 00:33:43,522 --> 00:33:47,157 I had to go back with the family and start the church. 514 00:33:47,225 --> 00:33:49,459 I had no other choice. 515 00:33:49,528 --> 00:33:51,495 When we moved back to Arkansas, 516 00:33:51,597 --> 00:33:54,331 I was supposed to fold gospel tracts and stuff them 517 00:33:54,399 --> 00:33:55,810 in envelopes. 518 00:33:55,834 --> 00:33:59,403 And while I was in the office, and I was putting away files, 519 00:33:59,471 --> 00:34:02,139 I came across a file of birth certificates, 520 00:34:02,207 --> 00:34:03,940 and one of them was mine. 521 00:34:08,047 --> 00:34:10,947 I had no idea that this document even existed, 522 00:34:11,016 --> 00:34:15,063 but there's my name in print, and it's got my mom's name, 523 00:34:15,087 --> 00:34:18,400 my mother's maiden name, which I had no idea who this 524 00:34:18,424 --> 00:34:21,391 woman was, what her name was, or anything about her, 525 00:34:21,427 --> 00:34:24,027 and here she is in print. 526 00:34:28,734 --> 00:34:30,345 This is a copy of my birth certificate that 527 00:34:30,369 --> 00:34:34,204 I found while I was rummaging through the files, 528 00:34:35,541 --> 00:34:38,275 and along with this, I found this photo 529 00:34:38,343 --> 00:34:39,910 of my mom. 530 00:34:39,978 --> 00:34:43,525 This photo of this beautiful woman with long brunette hair, 531 00:34:43,549 --> 00:34:46,227 smiling, looking off into the camera. 532 00:34:46,251 --> 00:34:48,952 Most of my life, I thought my mother 533 00:34:48,987 --> 00:34:50,198 was dead and in hell. 534 00:34:50,222 --> 00:34:55,058 And when I saw this, I... I fell in love with her, 535 00:34:55,127 --> 00:35:00,241 and could not believe that I was holding a picture of her. 536 00:35:00,265 --> 00:35:01,376 I kissed the photo. 537 00:35:01,400 --> 00:35:03,233 I cried next to the photo. 538 00:35:03,301 --> 00:35:05,335 My tears wetted this photo. 539 00:35:05,403 --> 00:35:06,269 According to this, 540 00:35:06,338 --> 00:35:09,272 my mother was from Brooklyn, New York. 541 00:35:09,341 --> 00:35:13,510 I called information and began asking for these last names, 542 00:35:13,545 --> 00:35:17,959 and eventually find one relative of my mother who had never 543 00:35:17,983 --> 00:35:22,119 remarried and kept the same maiden name as my mother's 544 00:35:22,154 --> 00:35:25,322 maiden name, and that woman knew where my mom was, 545 00:35:25,357 --> 00:35:28,970 and she confirmed that my mom was alive, and she put me in 546 00:35:28,994 --> 00:35:30,894 contact with her in California. 547 00:35:30,962 --> 00:35:35,999 All the years and all the lies suddenly just faded away, 548 00:35:36,034 --> 00:35:41,671 and I suddenly had a window to a new life. 549 00:35:41,773 --> 00:35:44,107 I began to plan my escape myself 550 00:35:44,176 --> 00:35:45,509 at 16 years old. 551 00:35:53,952 --> 00:35:57,287 I called a cab early in the morning, around five a.m., 552 00:35:57,355 --> 00:35:58,655 the cab rolled up, 553 00:35:59,892 --> 00:36:02,237 and it was rolling on the gravel that was in front 554 00:36:02,261 --> 00:36:05,473 of our house, and so it woke up everyone in the house. 555 00:36:05,497 --> 00:36:07,364 I got into the car, 556 00:36:07,399 --> 00:36:10,033 and my stepdad chased me 557 00:36:10,068 --> 00:36:11,146 all the way to the airport. 558 00:36:11,170 --> 00:36:12,702 Please, you gotta help me. 559 00:36:12,804 --> 00:36:15,805 The cab driver asked me, "Who's the man following us 560 00:36:15,874 --> 00:36:19,087 in the van?" And I said, that's my stepdad. 561 00:36:19,111 --> 00:36:21,945 I just found out that my own mom is alive, 562 00:36:22,013 --> 00:36:23,914 and I thought she was dead for my whole life, 563 00:36:23,949 --> 00:36:25,749 and the place where I come from, 564 00:36:25,817 --> 00:36:27,817 they'll beat me if they catch me. 565 00:36:27,886 --> 00:36:31,154 And that's when I said, "If you stop him, I'll give you $50 to 566 00:36:31,289 --> 00:36:33,902 "stop him and hold him back from coming into the airport. 567 00:36:33,926 --> 00:36:35,904 I have to get on that plane." 568 00:36:35,928 --> 00:36:37,472 And he said, "Well, if they're gonna put 569 00:36:37,496 --> 00:36:39,696 a hurting on you, I'll do what I can to stop him." 570 00:36:40,966 --> 00:36:42,265 And with that, he sped up. 571 00:36:45,504 --> 00:36:46,636 Thank you. 572 00:36:46,872 --> 00:36:49,139 When I was in the airport, I was shaking. 573 00:36:49,207 --> 00:36:53,143 My stepdad came out with a cell phone, yelling, 574 00:36:53,211 --> 00:36:54,956 "Tony Alamo wants to talk to you. 575 00:36:54,980 --> 00:36:56,246 "Tony wants to talk to you. 576 00:36:56,314 --> 00:37:00,116 He said you can marry any girl you want, just come back," 577 00:37:00,185 --> 00:37:02,430 and I said, "Tell Tony Alamo he's a liar. 578 00:37:02,454 --> 00:37:05,889 I found out my mom is alive, and I'm gonna go live with her," 579 00:37:05,924 --> 00:37:08,525 and that was it. I never looked back. 580 00:37:11,997 --> 00:37:13,942 My mother picked me up from the airport in 581 00:37:13,966 --> 00:37:17,000 Fresno, California, 582 00:37:17,068 --> 00:37:20,003 and I began to really understand who she was 583 00:37:20,071 --> 00:37:22,672 as she began to tell me her story. 584 00:37:22,741 --> 00:37:26,888 I'm sure you have a lot of questions. 585 00:37:26,912 --> 00:37:30,291 She told me about how her decision to leave was the most 586 00:37:30,315 --> 00:37:31,726 difficult decision in the world, 587 00:37:31,750 --> 00:37:34,162 and how the day she went to escape from 588 00:37:34,186 --> 00:37:35,163 this group, 589 00:37:35,187 --> 00:37:36,920 my father had come and taken me 590 00:37:36,988 --> 00:37:39,656 from the nursery, and she couldn't find me. 591 00:37:39,725 --> 00:37:42,792 And so she decided to leave without me. 592 00:37:42,861 --> 00:37:46,896 If I didn't leave then, I didn't think I'd ever get out. 593 00:37:46,965 --> 00:37:48,965 One of the things that my mom talked about was 594 00:37:49,034 --> 00:37:50,967 the three times that she tried to come get me. 595 00:37:51,002 --> 00:37:55,783 She hired a private investigator twice, and twice 596 00:37:55,807 --> 00:38:00,054 that private investigator got shunned away by the church. 597 00:38:00,078 --> 00:38:03,013 And then the third time, her and some of her friends tried 598 00:38:03,048 --> 00:38:05,915 to actually kidnap me off the streets, and that didn't 599 00:38:05,984 --> 00:38:08,263 work out, but she did try. 600 00:38:08,287 --> 00:38:12,088 - I never gave up, Benji. - I understand. 601 00:38:12,124 --> 00:38:14,457 And that actually made me feel 602 00:38:14,526 --> 00:38:15,825 really good. 603 00:38:15,861 --> 00:38:17,405 It showed me that she cared 604 00:38:17,429 --> 00:38:19,963 and that she didn't actually just forget me. 605 00:38:19,998 --> 00:38:22,410 She might have left me, but she didn't forget, 606 00:38:22,434 --> 00:38:24,434 and that was important. 607 00:38:24,502 --> 00:38:26,202 I forgave her. 608 00:38:35,213 --> 00:38:39,260 It was about two years later I learned that Tony had married 609 00:38:39,284 --> 00:38:41,885 some of these underage girls that he had been taking for 610 00:38:41,953 --> 00:38:43,052 Bible study, 611 00:38:44,323 --> 00:38:48,325 and I called the church, and I wanted to talk to 612 00:38:48,393 --> 00:38:50,994 my sister, and they told me that I couldn't talk to her. 613 00:38:51,062 --> 00:38:53,808 She was now married to Tony despite 614 00:38:53,832 --> 00:38:58,034 her only being 15 or 16 years old. 615 00:39:00,105 --> 00:39:04,307 When I learned that my sister had been raped by Tony, 616 00:39:04,376 --> 00:39:07,077 I wanted to get revenge. I wanted to kill the man. 617 00:39:08,046 --> 00:39:12,215 I had, like, a little 35 little revolver. 618 00:39:12,283 --> 00:39:14,317 Hey, what are you doing with that? 619 00:39:14,386 --> 00:39:16,097 - Give me that. - No. 620 00:39:16,121 --> 00:39:19,155 And my mother talked to me, 621 00:39:19,224 --> 00:39:22,003 and she said, "It's not your fight. 622 00:39:22,027 --> 00:39:23,438 You need to stop." 623 00:39:23,462 --> 00:39:27,342 So I never went. 624 00:39:27,366 --> 00:39:29,699 I never killed him. But I wanted to. 625 00:39:29,801 --> 00:39:32,146 His day is coming. 626 00:39:32,170 --> 00:39:34,716 You have your whole life ahead of you. 627 00:39:34,740 --> 00:39:38,174 Don't waste it on doing something silly like this. 628 00:39:39,077 --> 00:39:40,944 I'm glad I did not kill him. 629 00:39:41,012 --> 00:39:42,779 I'm glad I didn't drive down there. 630 00:39:42,847 --> 00:39:45,059 I'm glad I didn't go through with it. 631 00:39:45,083 --> 00:39:48,017 Taking someone else's life is never a good... a good option, 632 00:39:48,086 --> 00:39:54,102 even if they are pedophile rapist child abusing preacher 633 00:39:54,126 --> 00:39:57,660 who stole millions of dollars from thousands of people. 634 00:39:59,364 --> 00:40:03,099 It's still not the right solution. 635 00:40:10,375 --> 00:40:14,244 In 2008, I got a call from a former 636 00:40:14,345 --> 00:40:17,113 church member who was assisting the FBI 637 00:40:17,182 --> 00:40:20,228 investigating Tony Alamo. 638 00:40:20,252 --> 00:40:21,684 They informed me that they had 639 00:40:21,753 --> 00:40:24,654 been investigating Tony Alamo for several years 640 00:40:24,789 --> 00:40:26,968 for transporting minors across state lines 641 00:40:26,992 --> 00:40:28,491 for the purposes of sex. 642 00:40:28,527 --> 00:40:30,338 But they wanted to add on 643 00:40:30,362 --> 00:40:33,530 to that additional charges of child abuse. 644 00:40:33,598 --> 00:40:36,032 They had enough to probably put Tony 645 00:40:36,100 --> 00:40:38,168 away for the rest of his life. 646 00:40:52,851 --> 00:40:54,729 I was ecstatic when I heard that he was arrested 647 00:40:54,753 --> 00:40:58,922 and that he was gonna stay behind bars for 170 years. 648 00:40:58,957 --> 00:41:00,835 But the way I understand it, 649 00:41:00,859 --> 00:41:04,060 there's roughly probably close to 100 people, 650 00:41:04,128 --> 00:41:08,364 maybe 150 people who are still run... 651 00:41:08,433 --> 00:41:10,433 Either running the church or members of the church 652 00:41:10,502 --> 00:41:13,436 and who followed the doctrine that Tony Alamo had 653 00:41:13,505 --> 00:41:15,705 set forth. 654 00:41:15,841 --> 00:41:20,109 I have a few friends who were in the group up until a couple 655 00:41:20,178 --> 00:41:22,479 years ago, and when they got out, 656 00:41:22,547 --> 00:41:24,959 I began talking to them and telling them, "Look, this is 657 00:41:24,983 --> 00:41:26,160 "what Tony did to me. 658 00:41:26,184 --> 00:41:28,985 This is what he did to the kids," and they were in 659 00:41:29,053 --> 00:41:32,021 complete denial that Tony Alamo could ever do 660 00:41:32,090 --> 00:41:33,490 any of those things. 661 00:41:45,103 --> 00:41:49,183 When I learned that he passed away, I was relieved. 662 00:41:49,207 --> 00:41:52,320 I struggled for most of my life to find some sort 663 00:41:52,344 --> 00:41:54,121 of balance, 664 00:41:54,145 --> 00:41:56,846 to find peace of mind. 665 00:41:56,882 --> 00:42:00,528 It has taken me 30 years to 666 00:42:00,552 --> 00:42:04,020 come out the other side and to recover. 667 00:42:04,088 --> 00:42:08,057 I still see the beatings, I still can hear the sounds. 668 00:42:08,093 --> 00:42:10,426 It's not something that goes away, 669 00:42:11,429 --> 00:42:15,710 but through his hate, I have learned that we all suffer 670 00:42:15,734 --> 00:42:17,578 and that we all have 671 00:42:17,602 --> 00:42:21,371 a common goal, which is to live life as much as we can, 672 00:42:21,439 --> 00:42:23,039 freely as we can. 673 00:42:23,107 --> 00:42:25,942 And I refuse to ever live my life in fear again.