American authorities are investigating a clergyman for alleged child abuse after he said publicly that unruly children should be whipped.

The pastor in Atlanta, the Rev Arthur Allen, told his local paper: "We believe in corporal punishment for unruly children."

Officials are now investigating reports that members of his church held down their children and beat them with belts.

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports as many as 60 children are involved in the investigation and 19 children have already been removed from the homes of members of the church.