🔴 EVANGELICAL PASTOR JAILED FOR SEXUAL OFFENCES AGAINST CHILDREN

Disgraced Liverpool church leader abused his position of trust to prey on young girls. The full story of the offending uncovered after one victim's father reported his online grooming.

A former evangelical pastor has been sentenced to 14 years at Liverpool Crown Court for a series of sexual offences committed against children and young women whom he targeted through his position in the church. Walter Chahwanda, 34, of Plemonstall Court, Chester, was ordered to serve an immediate custodial term of nine years with a further five years on extended licence after a jury found him guilty of seventeen counts including sexual activity with a child, sending indecent electronic images, and sexual communication with a child. The sentencing on 20 March 2026 follows a trial in which the defendant was acquitted of one count of rape and one count of assault by penetration, while the Crown Prosecution Service offered no evidence on two counts of blackmail.

The court heard how Chahwanda utilised his roles within the Apostolic Faith Mission and his own Liverpool-based church, Sound of Dominion, to identify and contact victims across the country over a four-year period. The defendant initiated contact through church-related activities before moving interactions to digital platforms including Snapchat and Instagram, where he proceeded to send intimate sexual photographs and videos of himself. Evidence presented to the jury detailed how Chahwanda sexualised conversations regarding the appearance of the girls and, in one instance, sexually assaulted a child aged 14.

The prosecution established that Chahwanda appeared to find sexual gratification in the risk of detection, frequently goading his victims to reveal his actions to others in an attempt to be exposed. Despite his claims under police caution that the interactions were merely "naughty" role play and that his conduct was consensual, the jury rejected his defence following his initial arrest in February 2024 and subsequent interviews in April 2025. Aaron Smith, a specialist prosecutor with the CPS Mersey Cheshire Rape and Serious Sexual Offences unit, stated that Chahwanda had abused the trust placed in him as a pastor to target and harm young women and children.

"Chahwanda had no regard for their wellbeing and was solely focused on his own sexual gratification," Mr Smith said following the sentencing hearing. "He told them he was risking everything by his actions, but it was the women and girls who were the ones who felt trapped and disgusted by what he was doing." The prosecutor noted that the successful conviction ensured Chahwanda is now a registered sex offender who will remain under statutory supervision for a significant period. In addition to the custodial sentence, the court granted applications for restraining orders intended to prevent the defendant from ever contacting any of his victims again.

The legal proceedings concluded after a trial that evaluated 22 original counts in relation to nine separate victims. While Chahwanda was cleared of several charges, including one count of sending a photograph of his genitals, the court heard that his offending escalated over time until the father of one victim reported the conduct to the NSPCC. This report prompted a wider investigation by Merseyside Police, which uncovered further victims who had previously felt unable to speak openly about the defendant’s conduct due to his respected position within the religious community. Chahwanda, who was convicted on 3 February 2026, will now serve the majority of his sentence in a high-security setting before being eligible for release on licence.