World Changers Church International Pastor Creflo Dollar was arrested at his home Friday shortly after midnight on charges of simple battery and cruelty to children after Fayette County deputies responded to his north Fayette County residence on a domestic disturbance call. The arrest came after Dollar’s 15-year-old daughter and a witness told deputies that her father physically assaulted her.
Fayette County Sheriff’s spokesman Brent Rowan said deputies responded to the Dollar residence on Sandy Creek Road at approximately 1 a.m. in reference to a domestic disturbance. Upon their arrival, deputies interviewed Dollar’s 15-year-old daughter who said she and her father had been in an argument over her attending an upcoming party, Rowan said.
Deputies also interviewed a witness to the disturbance, Rowan added.
Deputies at the scene were told that the argument turned physical, with Dollar found to be the primary aggressor, said Rowan. The 15-year-old suffered superficial injuries and did not require medical treatment, Rowan said.
According to reports, the 15-year-old daughter told investigators that she went to the kitchen and began crying after being told she could not go to the party. Her father entered the room and asked her why she was crying. Upon being told that she did not want to “talk right now” Pastor Dollar charged her, put his hands around her throat and began to choke her, reports said. The 15-year-old said her father then “slammed her to the ground and began punching her and took his shoe off and started whooping her with it,” the deputy’s report said.
The deputy in his report said he noticed a scratch on the right side of the girl’s neck close to her throat.
The report indicated that Pastor Dollar in his statement said he and his daughter were in a disagreement about a party she wanted to attend. After the exchange his daughter left the room and entered the kitchen and became upset.
Dollar told deputies that he entered the kitchen and asked why she was upset. Dollar said his daughter became very disrespectful and he approached her and tried to restrain her. Dollar stated that while restraining her, she began to hit back and then he wrestled her to the floor. He said that, while on the floor, he began to spank her on her bottom and the back of her legs. Dollar said she calmed down after the spanking and was advised to go to her room, reports said.
Deputies also spoke with a witness to the disturbance. The witness in her statement recounted the argument, stating that while in the kitchen, Pastor Dollar grabbed the 15-year-old’s shoulders, slapped her in the face and put both hands around her neck and choked her for about five seconds, adding that the girl tried to break free and did not fight back, according to reports. The witness said she then left the room to get the 15-year-old’s mother after Dollar threw his daughter to the ground.
Dollar, age 50, was arrested on charges of simple battery-family violence and cruelty to children, Rowan said.
The high profile pastor heads Creflo Dollar Ministries that includes the World Changers Church International located in College Park and CDM Global Missions. World Changers International has 16 satellite churches in seven states and Washington, D.C. and CDM has offices in Australia, South Africa, Nigeria and the United Kingdom, according to creflodollarministries.org.
