One Pastor defends his reputation and career after allegations of him punching and choking his 15-year-old daughter during an argument. Creflo Dollar, megachurch pastor, was charged with misdemeanor counts of simple battery and cruelty to children.
"I will say this emphatically: I should have never been arrested," Dollar said in his first public appearance.
Prior to presenting his sermon on Sunday, he addressed the congregation at the World Changers Church International in Atlanta, saying that the police report entailed alligations that are nothing far from "exaggeration and sensationalism."
He added, "I want you all to hear personally from me that all is well in the Dollar household."
Dollar, 50, is one of the most well-known African-American pastors within the Atlanta area. He has numerous satellite churches around the United States, and 30,000 members in his church.
His 15-year-old daughter called the police on Friday and explained to them how she and her father argued and got into a physical altercation after he wouldn't allow her to leave for a party. She told Fayette County Sheriff's deputy that the pastor beat her with his shoe, choked, and punched her. A scratch was reported to be found on her neck.
Dollar denied all allegations saying, "The truth is that a family conversation with our youngest daughter got emotional," he said. "And emotions got involved and things escalated from there."
Dollar's 19-year-old daughter was interviewed by the deputy, and she seconded her younger sister's story, saying that her father slapped the young girl in her face, choked her, and threw her on the floor. The pastor's wife, Taffi Dollar, denied seeing the fight altogether.
Dollar has not made any public remarks against his children and does not support the idea of doing so. "I will never put any fault on my children, as Jesus would never put any fault on me," he said.
