Evangelical pastor who groomed and abused girls jailed

An evangelical pastor who sent intimate videos of himself to children and carried out abuse - after grooming them on TikTok and Snapchat - has been jailed for nine years.

Walter Chahwanda, 34, of Plemonstall Court, Chester, was found guilty of 17 sexual offences against girls aged 14 to 17, between 2017 and 2020. He also sexually assaulted a child under the age of 14.

He was a pastor in the Apostolic Faith Mission before he set up his own church called Sound of Dominion in Speke in Merseyside.

The court heard he targeted victims as far afield as Manchester, South Yorkshire, East Midlands and Kent. He was sentenced at Liverpool Crown Court to nine years in custody and five on extended licence.

Judge David Swinnerton said the pastor had "deeply damaged" the lives of his victims and "had abused the trust and power you had in your position that you held in the church to abuse these young girls within the church community".

When police questioned him, the pastor admitted that he had had sexualised conversations on one of his social media sites.

The court heard he dismissed this as "naughty" and said he was just indulging in role play in the chats.

The jury was told the church was made aware of several complaints by women but did not take the "appropriate steps to safeguard young girls".

Character references given to the court described Chahwanda as kind and deeply caring and "empathetic and selfless".

Aaron Smith, of the Crown Prosecution Service, said Chahwanda "abused the trust placed in him as a pastor to target and harm young women and children".

He added: "Their courage in coming forward has ensured he is now a convicted sex offender who will spend many years in prison."

Chahwanda was found guilty of five counts of sexual activity with a child, six of sending an indecent electronic image, three of causing a child to watch a sexual act and three of sexual communication with a child.

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