A simple battery charge lodged last June against mega-church pastor Creflo Dollar Jr. after a scuffle with his daughter has been dismissed, Fayette County State Court Solicitor Jamie K. Inagawa confirmed Thursday.
Dollar, one of the best-known adherents of a prosperity gospel, recently completed a three-month, pre-trial intervention program that allowed him to avoid court. He was required to enroll in an anger management program, report to a probation officer and pay $1,072 in court fees, the solicitor said.
The pastor of World Changers Church International has no history of such incidents, and the victim, Dollar’s 15-year-old daughter, didn’t want to see him charged, Inagawa said. The program was used in 128 cases last year, he said.
“Those are among a number of factors we considered,” the solicitor told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
Fayette County sheriff’s deputies responded to the Dollars’ home June 8 after his daughter told a 911 operator he had punched and choked her.
“It was not the first time it’s happened, ” the girl, whose name is being withheld because she is a minor, said in an audio recording of the 911 call.
The incident report alleged that Dollar choked his daughter for about five seconds with both his hands before grabbing her by the shoulders, slapping her, then throwing her to the ground.
Dollar, speaking to his congregation two days after the incident, denied the accusations.
“She was not choked, ” Dollar said. “She was not punched. The truth is, a family conversation with our youngest daughter got emotional. Things escalated from there.”
Dollar’s attorney, Nikki Bonner, declined comment Thursday.
The 50-year-old pastor was targeted in 2007 by a congressional committee examining the tax-exempt status of World Changers and five other megachurches. Dollar, who drives a church-bought Rolls Royce, withheld certain requested financial documents and refused to answer questions from Senate Finance Committee Chairman Charles Grassley (R-Iowa).
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