Evangelical pastor who targeted victims in South Yorkshire convicted of sexual offences against children
A pastor in an evangelical church who targeted children across England, including in South Yorkshire, has been jailed for sexual offences against young girls.
Walter Chahwanda, aged 34, of Plemonstall Court, Chester, was a pastor in the Apostolic Faith Mission before he set up his own church in Liverpool called Sound of Dominion.
Over a period of around four years, he targeted children and young women across the country, including South Yorkshire, Manchester, East Midlands and Kent.
He met his victims through the Apostolic Faith Mission church before sending them intimate sexual pictures and videos of himself. He also sexually assaulted one child aged 14.
His method was the same in most of the instances. He would meet the children through church related activities across the country and would then add them to his Snapchat or Instagram accounts and continue talking to them online, normally at first.
But he would start to sexualise the chat, talking about the appearance 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.
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 National Crime Agency described in a statement that “the thought of being caught appeared to be part of his sexual fantasies.”
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.
Several women did tell others about the pictures and the church was also made aware, but he refused to stop.
His offending escalated as time went on.
The father of one of the victims reported what had happened to the NSPCC. Several other victims also went to the police and support organisations.
Chawanda was initially arrested in February 2024 and was interviewed again in April 2025 following further enquiries being made by police into additional possible victims.
Under questioning, he denied all of the allegations, although he did admit 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 found guilty on 17 counts of a range of sexual offences, including sending indecent images and sexual activity with a child, by a jury at Liverpool Crown Court in February 2026.
He was jailed for 14 years on March 20, 2026, made up of nine years in prison and five years on extended licence.
Aaron Smith, a specially trained lawyer with CPS Mersey Cheshire Rape and Serious Sexual Offences (RASSO) unit, said: “Walter Chahwanda used his position as a respected Pastor to abuse a 14-year-old child and cause distress to multiple children. He had no regard for their wellbeing or vulnerability and was solely focused on his own sexual gratification.
“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.
“They found it difficult to comprehend that a man in Chahwanda’s position would act in such a manner and, in some instances, felt unable to talk about sex openly with others.
“Thankfully, eventually, the victims were listened to and Chahwanda was arrested. He continued to deny that what he had been doing was criminal and said the victims had consented. He passed off his offences as harmless.
“His victims explained in statements and evidence the true impact of what he had done and the jury found him guilty.
“The Crown Prosecution Service would like to thank the victims and witnesses in this case for their courage and support in this prosecution. Without their testimony, Walter Chahwanda would not have been brought to justice.”