A pastor who groomed children and young women on TikTok and Snapchat goaded his victims to “expose him”.
Walter Chahwanda, 34, was a pastor in the Apostolic Faith Mission before he set up his own church called Sound of Dominion in Speke.
Over a period of around four years, he targeted children and young women across the country that he had met through the Apostolic Faith Mission church, sending them intimate sexual pictures and videos of himself.
He also sexually assaulted one child aged 14.
The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said Chahwanda’s methods were the same in most instances.
He would meet the children or young women through his church activities travelling across the country.
He would add them on social media sites and would at first talk normally with them. But he would soon sexualise the chat, talking about the appearances of the girls and how he liked them.
Then he would suddenly send them intimate pictures and videos of himself, often performing a sexual act.
A trial at Liverpool Crown Court heard an element of the offending was that he would then goad his victims to reveal what he was doing and tell others in order to “expose him”.
The thought of being caught appeared to be part of his sexual fantasies, the CPS said. Chahwanda had a role of authority and trust in the churches and was admired by many.
The pictures and videos shocked and confused the victims who had respected Chahwanda.
The CPS said the criminal proceedings heard that the church was made aware of several complaints by women about Chahwanda. However, he refused to stop and his offending escalated as time went on.
The dad of one of the victims reported what had happened to the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC). A number of other victims also went to the police and support organisations.
Chahwanda was initially arrested in February 2024 and was interviewed again in April 2025 following further enquiries being made by police into more possible victims.
He told the police that he denied all of the allegations, but admitted to having sexualised conversations on one of his social media sites.
He dismissed this as “naughty” and said he was just indulging in role play in the chats.
He was ultimately charged with 22 counts in relation to nine victims. He denied all the charges but on Tuesday was found guilty of 17 offences at Liverpool Crown Court.
He was found not guilty of one count of rape, one count of assault by penetration and one count of sending a photograph/film of his genitals. The CPS offered no evidence on two counts of blackmail and they were not put to the jury.
Chahwanda, of Plemonstall Court in Chester, will return to the same court on March 20 for sentencing. —-LiverpoolEcho.co.uk
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