BEIJING, Sept. 22 (Xinhuanet) -- The Arkansas police have raided and searched an evangelist's compound and put six children into temporary custody of the state Department of Human Services (DHS), according media reports Monday.

    The children were being interviewed as part of a probe into whether they were physically or sexually abused at the compound -- Tony Alamo Christian Ministries, though their ages were not disclosed.

    The compound is in the town of Fouke, about 19 km from Texarkana, Arkansas. The raid involving 100 law enforcement agents entered the site Saturday without meeting any resistance, Bill Sadler, a spokesman for the state police, said.

    Alamo denied any wrongdoing or child pornography in Los Angeles, California on the same day of raid and search.

    "It's a hoax," Alamo said. "They're just trying to make our church look evil by saying I'm a pornographer. Saying that I rape little children."

    Comparing himself to Christ, Alamo asked, "Why were they after Jesus?" adding, "it's the same reason. Jesus is living within me."

    Investigators said their two-year inquiry into accusations of child pornography and abuse focused on Alamo and his ministry. Alamo, a convicted tax evader, spent four years in prison for owning the government 7.9 million dollars.

    Officials had no plans to search the compound again, nor any plans to search other ministry locations, according Sadler.

    Alamo and his wife, Susan, were street preachers in Los Angeles in 1966 before forming a commune near Saugus, California. Susan Alamo died of cancer in 1982 and the husband claimed she would be resurrected and kept her body on display for six months while their followers prayed.

    (agencies)