A church pastor from Stirling molested a female parishioner while pretending he was “removing demons” from her body, a trial has determined.
Walter Masocha repeatedly groped the married woman at his home in Stirling, a jury heard, telling her she was a gift to him from God.
He also attempted to rape a young single female and indecently assaulted her during a depraved campaign of sexual abuse spanning six years.
The predatory preacher was found guilty after a trial at the High Court in Livingston of attempted rape, indecent assault and sexual assault against one woman and indecent assault of another.
Masocha committed the offences at addresses in the Stirling area between January 1 2006 and July 31 2012.
The jury returned a majority verdict convicting him of the rape bid and unanimous guilty verdicts on the other three charges.
Assault and rape attempt
The jury heard evidence from a 39-year-old woman who said she was 20 when Masocha began sexually abusing her.
She said most people in the church referred to the accused as “Dad” or “Daddy” and looked on him as a father figure.
She said: “He would tell me ‘God said I need to look after you and has given me special love for you in particular’.
“Several times during so-called surgeries he said to me: ‘God has given you to me to nature you, look after you and provide for you. He told me to love you in any way you want to be loved. You don’t need a boyfriend’.”
She said Masocha sexually assaulted her the first time in his home in Bridge of Allan by suddenly grabbing her face and putting his tongue in her mouth.
In the second incident she said he slapped her bottom as she was going upstairs.
She told how he later tried to rape her after taking her into his bedroom.
She said she froze, feeling helpless but she she broke free and fled before he could rape her.
Another time, she said, he took her hand and placed it on his erect penis over his clothing at his seven-bedroom mansion in Sauchieburn, near Stirling.
‘Removing demons’
Her husband gave evidence they later followed the Zimbabwean tradition of confronting the accused about his abuse.
He said Masocha responded by prostrating himself on the floor and asked them to pray for him, saying: “I’m sorry I loved you too much.”
The jury also heard evidence from a 58-year-old married woman Masocha repeatedly subjected to inappropriate and unwelcome sexual abuse around 20 years ago.
The woman said he had told her God had “given her to him as a gift” and ordered her to kiss his “holy lips”.
She said he tried to justify putting his hand in her pants and groping her private parts by claiming he was “removing demons” from her body and giving her blessings in return.
Predator
Summing up the prosecution case, advocate depute Michael McIntosh said in his closing speech: “She was looking for prayer and she found herself being preyed upon.
“Walter Masocha wasn’t just a pastor and a preacher, he was a predator who thought that his power and position rendered him immune from suspicion.”
Giving evidence in his own defence, Masocha accused the two complainers, and two other women who gave evidence of earlier sexual abuse, of making up the allegations.
Masocha, 61, of Forth Park, Bridge of Allan – a former accountancy lecturer at Stirling University – founded his own church in Scotland in his spare time in 2007.
He built up The Agape for All Nations Church into an international religious organisation with more than 2,000 members, appointing himself as Archbishop on the same salary as the Archbishop of Canterbury.
He set up ministries across the UK, the United States, Canada and numerous African countries.
Found guilty of similar offence
Judge Susan Craig called for background reports and a risk assessment before sentencing and adjourned the case until July 28.
She remanded Masocha in custody, telling him: “This was appalling behaviour.
“It’s completely clear to me that this will result in a custodial sentence.”
She said reports will include one into whether an extended sentence is necessary.
It was only after the jury’s verdicts were announced it could be revealed Masocha was convicted in June 2015 of sexually assaulting a woman at the Church of Agape and engaging in sexual activity towards a schoolgirl.
He was found guilty after a trial at Falkirk Sheriff Court of putting his hand down the trousers of the schoolgirl – telling her that he was trying to remove demons – and of groping a church deaconess while he was meant to be praying for her.
He was sentenced at the time to 250 hours of unpaid work and placed on the sex offenders register for a year but the conviction was later quashed after appeal court judges ruled he was the victim of a miscarriage of justice.
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