By Lauren Crooks
The schoolgirl victim of sex shame preacher Walter Masocha yesterday criticised a sheriff for not jailing him. Princess Chiferere was just 13 when Masocha began grooming her at Agape for All Nations church in Stirling before molesting her. He singled out the youngster and sent her a series of texts saying he loved her. In one chilling message, he told her: “You’re mine.”
And she told how the preacher assaulted her by putting his hand down her pants and telling her he was exorcising demons.
Princess, now 17, has waived her right to anonymity to tell how she’s suffered since standing up to Masocha, who was called Daddy by women in his church .
She says she feels let down by Sheriff Kenneth McGowan’s decision to hand the preacher a 250-hour community service order instead of a jail sentence .
McGowan spared him prison at Falkirk Sheriff Court last month, saying Masocha had “already suffered a spectacular fall from grace”.
Zimbabwe-born Masocha had been convicted of two sex offences in April.
The pastor, a former accountancy lecturer at Stirling University, was found guilty of sexually assaulting the deaconess of the church.
He was also convicted of kissing and caressing Princess at the church’s base at Cosyneuk House in Sauchieburn, near Stirling.
The offences were committed between January 2012 and January 2014.
Princess, from Denny, Stirlingshire, says the legacy of his crimes has been difficult to endure.
She said: “The past couple of years have been very hard.
“Walter Masocha was somebody I trusted – he was my spiritual father, a man of God.
“I looked up to him and respected him but he abused my trust and his position. I don’t trust anybody now. This has had a massive effect on my confidence.
“For months, I kept hearing his voice saying discouraging things to me, like ‘you’re a failure’ or ‘nobody will believe you’.
“One minute, I would be fine and next, I would be crying. I just wanted it all to go away.
“The doctor has now put me on medication and I’m also going for counselling.
“Because of everything he put me through, I’m really disappointed that he only got community service.
“I was giving statements and evidence against him when I was meant to be studying for my exams. So it feels unfair that he can walk the streets almost as if he’s done nothing wrong.
“It was such a great day when he was found guilty – but the sentence was not strong enough.” Masocha founded the church with Princess’s family in 2007 and his extra attention made her feel special at first.
But he abused his position of trust when he kissed her on the lips and slid his hands down her trousers when she was only 15.
He also warned her to stay away from boys her own age and said: “I’ll release you when you are 18.”
Text messages from him, which started when Princess was just 13, became more frequent.
She said: “He would text me saying he loved me or couldn’t wait to see me. I always replied because, at that point, to get a text message from him was like ‘Wow’.
“I got these text messages every night. He told me not to show my mum because it would make her jealous. And later he asked me to delete them.
“He always texted me saying, ‘You’re mine’ and he would tell me that all the time in person too.”
“I just froze when he put his hand down my trousers. I was so confused. I felt uncomfortable and weird.
“It continued for about two minutes, then he walked out of the room.
“It played on my mind. I couldn’t stop thinking about what had happened.
“That was when I knew he had crossed the line.
“I decided to text him when I got home and ask him why he had done it. I thought I was in the wrong – I just didn’t know what I had done. It went round and round in my head.”
When she returned to the house to see Masocha, he made threats against her family if she told anyone what had happened.
Princess added: “He told me that he put his hand in my underwear to remove demons he had seen in me.
“He said he was pinging away things that shouldn’t be there. I didn’t know what to say.
“Before I left the room, he said to me that I couldn’t tell anyone what we had talked about – otherwise my parents would never be rich or could die. That was scary so I didn’t tell anyone.”
Things only came to light when her mum Ophelia, 43, mentioned to Princess that Masocha had sent her
a text.
Princess blurted out that he sent her messages every night.
She revealed that Masocha had insisted the messages were kept secret and later asked her to delete them.
Concerned about Masocha’s interest, Ophelia and a friend decided to take Princess to police.
The teenager said: “While it was going on, I didn’t see it as wrong.
“It was only after I said it out loud to the police and saw how it all added up that I realised properly that it was very wrong.” Scottish Daily Record
The schoolgirl victim of sex shame preacher Walter Masocha yesterday criticised a sheriff for not jailing him. Princess Chiferere was just 13 when Masocha began grooming her at Agape for All Nations church in Stirling before molesting her. He singled out the youngster and sent her a series of texts saying he loved her. In one chilling message, he told her: “You’re mine.”
And she told how the preacher assaulted her by putting his hand down her pants and telling her he was exorcising demons.
Princess, now 17, has waived her right to anonymity to tell how she’s suffered since standing up to Masocha, who was called Daddy by women in his church .
She says she feels let down by Sheriff Kenneth McGowan’s decision to hand the preacher a 250-hour community service order instead of a jail sentence .
McGowan spared him prison at Falkirk Sheriff Court last month, saying Masocha had “already suffered a spectacular fall from grace”.
Zimbabwe-born Masocha had been convicted of two sex offences in April.
 |
| Princess Chiferere says the ordeal has affected her confidence (Picture by David McNie) |
He was also convicted of kissing and caressing Princess at the church’s base at Cosyneuk House in Sauchieburn, near Stirling.
The offences were committed between January 2012 and January 2014.
Princess, from Denny, Stirlingshire, says the legacy of his crimes has been difficult to endure.
She said: “The past couple of years have been very hard.
“Walter Masocha was somebody I trusted – he was my spiritual father, a man of God.
“I looked up to him and respected him but he abused my trust and his position. I don’t trust anybody now. This has had a massive effect on my confidence.
“For months, I kept hearing his voice saying discouraging things to me, like ‘you’re a failure’ or ‘nobody will believe you’.
“One minute, I would be fine and next, I would be crying. I just wanted it all to go away.
“The doctor has now put me on medication and I’m also going for counselling.
“Because of everything he put me through, I’m really disappointed that he only got community service.
“I was giving statements and evidence against him when I was meant to be studying for my exams. So it feels unfair that he can walk the streets almost as if he’s done nothing wrong.
“It was such a great day when he was found guilty – but the sentence was not strong enough.” Masocha founded the church with Princess’s family in 2007 and his extra attention made her feel special at first.
But he abused his position of trust when he kissed her on the lips and slid his hands down her trousers when she was only 15.
He also warned her to stay away from boys her own age and said: “I’ll release you when you are 18.”
Text messages from him, which started when Princess was just 13, became more frequent.
She said: “He would text me saying he loved me or couldn’t wait to see me. I always replied because, at that point, to get a text message from him was like ‘Wow’.
“I got these text messages every night. He told me not to show my mum because it would make her jealous. And later he asked me to delete them.
“He always texted me saying, ‘You’re mine’ and he would tell me that all the time in person too.”
“I just froze when he put his hand down my trousers. I was so confused. I felt uncomfortable and weird.
“It continued for about two minutes, then he walked out of the room.
“It played on my mind. I couldn’t stop thinking about what had happened.
“That was when I knew he had crossed the line.
“I decided to text him when I got home and ask him why he had done it. I thought I was in the wrong – I just didn’t know what I had done. It went round and round in my head.”
When she returned to the house to see Masocha, he made threats against her family if she told anyone what had happened.
Princess added: “He told me that he put his hand in my underwear to remove demons he had seen in me.
“He said he was pinging away things that shouldn’t be there. I didn’t know what to say.
“Before I left the room, he said to me that I couldn’t tell anyone what we had talked about – otherwise my parents would never be rich or could die. That was scary so I didn’t tell anyone.”
Things only came to light when her mum Ophelia, 43, mentioned to Princess that Masocha had sent her
a text.
Princess blurted out that he sent her messages every night.
She revealed that Masocha had insisted the messages were kept secret and later asked her to delete them.
Concerned about Masocha’s interest, Ophelia and a friend decided to take Princess to police.
The teenager said: “While it was going on, I didn’t see it as wrong.
“It was only after I said it out loud to the police and saw how it all added up that I realised properly that it was very wrong.” Scottish Daily Record
