Allen, convicted of cruelty to children, took off his belt and waved it behind a 14-year-old boy as part of a mock whipping. He had two men hold the boy's arms after Allen had shown how easily the boy could escape if Allen tried to hand-spank him alone.
"See if he's going to stand up there and let you hit him with a belt and you don't hold him," Allen said Sunday.
Allen, 70, and four other members were found guilty Thursday of aggravated assault and cruelty to children for whipping two boys in front of the congregation in February 2001.
The pretend whipping Sunday mocked a judge's order that Allen and his followers use only an open hand on their own children's buttocks - and not to bring them to church to have them whipped while men restrain them.
"I can't maintain discipline in my home by just hand-spanking our children," Allen told his congregation of about 130.
"Amen!" church members responded. "That's right!"
Judge T. Jackson Bedford Jr. sentenced the defendants to prison sentences ranging from 20 to 90 days. They must also pay fines, serve probation and attend parenting classes.
Allen was sentenced to 90 days in prison, 10 years probation and an $8,000 fine. The judge also told Allen that he cannot "advise or participate in any way in the discipline" of anyone else's children.
State officials "want to make a joke out of disciplining children," Allen said Sunday.
Six other House of Prayer members may go to trial on child cruelty charges later this year.
http://accesswdun.com/article/2002/10/188660