Mega-church Pastor Creflo Dollar spoke to his congregation over the weekend, saying he is innocent after his arrest when his own daughter called 911claiming he abused her. INSIDE EDITION has the story.
Mega-church Pastor Creflo Dollar was arrested early Friday morning for allegedly beating his daughter.
The 911 call placed by his 15-year-old daughter Lauren Dollar was just released.
Lauren told the 911 operator: "He came, put his arm around my neck, choked me and bent me over the table. He threw me on the ground and punched me in my face."
But at his church on Sunday, Pastor Dollar was greeted with wild, enthusiastic applause. He denied he did anything wrong.
"I want to say this emphatically – I should have never been arrested. There are times that discipline and training our kids can become pretty intense. The truth is, she was not choked, she was not punched. If I punched my kid, it would hurt her."
But Lauren told the 911 operator a different story.
Lauren: "It's not the first time it's happened. I'm scared, I'm shaking. I don't know what to do."
911 operator: "Does your father know you are calling the police?"
Lauren: "No."
The pastor has been criticized in the past for his extremely lavish lifestyle; he refused to answer questions when we tried to talk to him in 2011.
INSIDE EDITION's Lisa Guerrero asked him then, "How do you justify your million dollar mansion and your jets to your donors."
He did not respond to Guerrero.
As for his arrest, Dollar said he was just trying to discipline his daughter. If convicted of the child cruelty charge, Dollar could be sentenced to as much as ten years in prison.
