January 15, 2008
Megachurch Leader Charged With Perjury
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Filed at 1:19 a.m. ET

ATLANTA (AP) -- The 80-year-old leader of a suburban Atlanta megachurch has
been charged with lying under oath, court documents show. A warrant for the
arrest of Archbishop Earl Paulk, co-founder of Cathedral of the Holy Spirit
at Chapel Hill Harvester Church, was issued Monday, according to court
documents. Paulk was making arrangements Monday night to turn himself in to
authorities, WAGA-TV reported.

Paulk's attorneys did not immediately return calls from The Associated
Press
for comment.

Former church employee Mona Brewer is suing Paulk, his brother, Don, and
the
church for allegedly manipulating her into an affair from 1989 to 2003 by
telling her it was her only path to salvation. In a 2006 deposition
stemming
from the lawsuit, the archbishop said under oath that the only woman he had
ever had sex with outside of his marriage was Brewer.

But the results of a court-ordered paternity test revealed in October that
Paulk is the biological father of his brother's son, D.E. Paulk, who is now
head pastor at the family's church. As part of Brewer's lawsuit, eight
women
have given sworn depositions that they were coerced into sexual
relationships with Earl Paulk.

A judge ordered the paternity test at the request of the Cobb County
district attorney's office and the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, which
were investigating Paulk.

Cobb County District Attorney Pat Head declined comment when reached at his
home Monday night.

Paulk and his brother, Don, have been hit with multiple lawsuits from
former
members alleging they were coerced into sexual affairs, but this is the
first time criminal charges have been filed against the archbishop.



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