LITTLE ROCK, Ark. - A federal judge in Arkansas has rejected jailed evangelist Tony Alamo's request for bail while he awaits trial on charges he took young girls across state lines for sex.

U.S. District Judge Harry F. Barnes issued an order Wednesday denying a defense request to consider setting bail for Alamo.

Bail was denied last year by a federal magistrate judge, and Barnes said Alamo should have immediately appealed that decision then. The magistrate said Alamo was a flight risk and a danger to the community.

The 74-year-old Alamo was arrested in Flagstaff, Ariz., in September, five days after a raid on his ministry's compound in southwest Arkansas.

Alamo denies the allegations.

His trial is set for May 18.

A service of the Associated Press(AP)