Megachurch pastor charged with battery

Associated Press

ATLANTA

The 15-year-old daughter of megachurch pastor Creflo Dollar told authorities her father choked and punched her and hit her with his shoe during an argument over whether she could go to a party, according to a police report.

Dollar’s 19-year-old daughter corroborated most of her sister’s story, but Dollar disputed it, telling a deputy sheriff he was trying to restrain her when she became disrespectful. When she began to hit back, he wrestled her to the floor and spanked her, according to the police report.

Dollar is one of the most prominent African- American preachers based around Atlanta. His World Changers Church International has 30,000 members in the Atlanta area, and the ministry has satellite churches across the U.S.

Dollar faces misdemeanor charges of simple battery and cruelty to children. He has been released from jail, and his lawyer said he was expected to preach today.

Dollar said in a statement Friday he loved his children and would never hurt them.

The 50-year-old Dollar leads the Creflo Dollar Ministries and is the pastor for World Changers Church International in the Atlanta suburb of College Park. World Changers Church-New York hosts more than 6,000 worshippers each week.

Satellite churches also are in Los Angeles, Indianapolis, Washington, Cleveland, Dallas and Houston.

He and his wife, a co-pastor at the church, have five children, according to the church’s website.