Sports

Pentecostal pastor convicted of sexually assaulting woman while 'exorcising demons'

Published

5 months ago

July 6, 2025

Your Sports Nation

Pentecostal pastor convicted of sexually assaulting woman while 'exorcising demons'

By Anugrah Kumar, Christian Post Contributor Saturday, July 05, 2025

Editor’s note: This article contains court details of alleged sexual assaults.

A former church pastor in Scotland has been convicted of sexually assaulting two women, including a parishioner he claimed was possessed by demons. Walter Masocha, 61, was found guilty of multiple offenses committed over six years while leading an international religious organization he founded.

A jury at the High Court in Livingston this week convicted Masocha, originally from Zimbabwe, of attempted rape, indecent assault and sexual assault against one woman, as well as indecent assault against another, The U.K. Times reported.

He was remanded in custody ahead of sentencing scheduled for July 28, where the judge said his name was likely to remain on the sex offenders register indefinitely due to the length and nature of his offenses.

The first woman, now 39, testified that Masocha began abusing her when she was 20 and living in Stirling. She said Masocha told her repeatedly that God had given her to him and that she didn’t need a boyfriend.

During church “surgeries,” he would say he had been instructed by God to love her in whatever way she wanted to be loved. She recounted how the abuse began with Masocha forcing his tongue into her mouth, slapping her backside and ultimately attempting to rape her after pulling down her trousers and underwear in his bedroom.

She said she froze at the time but managed to break free and run away.

On another occasion, she said he placed her hand on his penis over his clothing at his mansion in Sauchieburn. The house, worth £500,000 (over $682,700), was used for many of his so-called healing sessions.

The victim’s husband also gave evidence, telling the court they confronted Masocha following the Zimbabwean tradition of seeking accountability from elders. 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 second woman, aged 58, told the court that about two decades earlier, she had approached Masocha to pray for her husband’s immigration situation. She said he told her God had given her to him as a gift, ordered her to kiss him and groped her private parts under the pretense of casting out demons. He claimed she was receiving blessings in return.

During closing arguments, prosecutor Michael MacIntosh told the jury that Masocha preyed on women who trusted him for spiritual guidance. Masocha, who referred to himself as a prophet, denied all allegations and claimed the women were lying.

Masocha was previously a university lecturer in accounting at Stirling University. In 2007, he founded the Agape for All Nations Church, a Pentecostal ministry that grew to more than 2,000 members across the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada and several African countries.

He styled himself as archbishop, claiming a salary equivalent to that of the Archbishop of Canterbury, and lived what court documents described as a jet-set lifestyle, traveling frequently to visit pastors and preach overseas.

He was referred to by church members as “the prophet,” “the apostle,” and “a man of God.”

The jury convicted Masocha on four charges spanning from January 2006 to July 2012, delivering a majority verdict on attempted rape and unanimous verdicts on the other counts.

Judge Susan Craig revoked his bail immediately, calling his behavior appalling and ordering background reports and a risk assessment to consider an extended sentence.

Though Masocha had no prior convictions at trial, it emerged that he was found guilty in 2015 of similar offenses at the Church of Agape, including groping a church deaconess and touching a schoolgirl under the guise of exorcism. He was sentenced to community service and placed on the sex offenders register, but the conviction was later quashed as a miscarriage of justice.

Sports

Haugen Sets Norwegian National Record at Youree Spence Garcia Invitational

Published

1 minute ago

December 7, 2025

Your Sports Nation

QUEENS, N.Y. – The St. John’s track and field team opened its indoor campaign by hosting the Youree Spence Garcia Invitational on Saturday afternoon at the Ocean Breeze Athletic Complex in Staten Island. Senior Nora Haugen started her indoor campaign by setting a program, national and facility record in the 600m. Her time of 1:26.91 is the fastest time in the NCAA as of Saturday evening. Haugen was named the Most Outstanding Track Performer of the Meet for her results.

The Red Storm collected six event wins and 10 top-three finishes. In addition, five Johnnies etched their names on indoor top-10 all-time lists.

On the track, Haugen’s program record is the first to fall at Ocean Breeze this season. Chinenye Josephine Onourah won the 400m in a time of 53.13, which sits number two on the indoor all-time list. St. John’s took first through fifth place in the 400m. Freshman Nia-Ruby Forbes-Agyepong kicked off her Red Storm career with a top five finish in the 60m hurdles, stopping the clock in 8.90.

Both the 4x400m relay and the 4x800m relay quartets crossed the line first. The 4x400m squad finished 10 seconds ahead of second place, while the 4x800m group cruised to a 17 second margin of victory.

In the field, senior Jamora Alves started her indoor campaign with a second place showing in the women’s shot put. Her toss of 14.30m (46ft 11in.) is her second-best season opening mark of her career and gives her another top-10 performance in program history. Linn Hertz Saebbo won the long jump on her final attempt, leaping 6.05m (19ft 10.25in). The mark sits third all-time on the indoor list. Freshman Tatiana Camilo also made the long jump final, with a jump of 5.45m (17ft 10.50in) and Nyla Branche placed second in the high jump with a 1.62m (5ft 3.75in) clearance.

Youree Spence is regarded as one of the greatest track and field athletes in St. John’s history. She is an 11-time BIG EAST Champion and holds three top-10 performances across three disciples. The track and field legend and the meet’s namesake was in attendance, along with several other alumni.

A portion of the team is set to compete next Friday, Dec. 12, back at Ocean Breeze in the Wagner Seahawk Shootout.

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Sports

NCAA Tournament: Nebraska vs. Kansas State Volleyball Watch Thread

Published

2 minutes ago

December 7, 2025

Your Sports Nation

#1 Nebraska vs. Kansas State

When: Saturday, December 6th, 7:00pm CST

Where: Bob Devaney Sports Center, Lincoln, NE

Both Kansas State and Nebraska won their 1st round matches to create an old Big 12 matchup for Round 2 in Lincoln, NE on Saturday night. Though the Huskers played a little later, they probably have the upper hand tomorrow since they only had to play 3 sets while Kansas State had to battle through 5 tough sets against San Diego earlier on Friday afternoon.

Since the match is less than 24 hours away, you’re only going to get the spark notes version for this Kansas State team and a quick recap of their match against San Diego. Kansas State could be bringing a good amount of fans tomorrow as they are only roughly 2 and half hours from Lincoln.

Kansas State finished the 2025 season going 18-9, 10-8 in conference play, in the Big 12 conference and getting ranked wins against North Carolina, Kansas, Colorado, Baylor, and Iowa State. The Big 12 was one of the most, if not the most, competitive conferences this year putting the most teams in the tournament in 2o25.

The stats get a little rough for K-State if you just look at the record between them and Nebraska. These two teams played their first match against each other in 1975 and the most recent one was in 2023 in the non-conference portion of the season. K-State is 4-81 against the Huskers, all time, with their last win coming in 2011 in the tournament. Nebraska hosted this match.

K-State’s top player, in their match against San Diego, was SR OH Shaylee Myers, who is a Lincoln Southwest graduate. She had 26 kills on 58 swings and hit .328%. She only recorded 7 errors.

RS-JR OH Aniya Clinton was another top Wildcat on Friday night, recording 19 kills in the 5 set match, hitting .304%. She also added 13 digs as well.

MB Jordyn Williams and Setter Ava LeGrand were the top blockers for K-State with Williams blocking 7 balls and LeGrand blocking 6. Brenna Schmidt is the Wildcats’ other middle blocker and she had a pretty good night defensively, but struggled offensively ending in the negatives with 2 kills and 3 errors. Schmidt had 4 assisted blocks and also had 1 of 2 solo blocks. Clinton had the other solo block.

Nebraska will look to continue their hunt for a national championship Saturday night against a Kansas State team that will be hungry to take out the only undefeated team left in D1 volleyball, and the predicted national champion. The match will begin at 7:00pm CST on ESPN+.

#1 Nebraska Cornhuskers (31-0, 20-0 B1G)

Kansas State Wildcats (18-9, 10-8 Big 12)

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Sports

Indoor Track and Field’s Mia Hoskins Breaks Weight Throw Record on Opening Weekend

Published

18 minutes ago

December 7, 2025

Your Sports Nation

NEW YORK — The Columbia track & field team began its 2025-26 season this weekend, competing in three meets in the New York City Area. The Lions had a successful start to the year, with many successful performances, which included a new program record.

The weekend began at the Armory Collegiate Distance Carnival, where Columbia dominated in the field events. Tyler Yen and Madison Williams won the long jump events, posting 6.85m and 5.63m, respectively, to lead the pack.

Viktoria Mihaylova picked up a win in the triple jump, posting a 11.97m jump. Rocco Carpinello took second in the men’s triple jump with a mark of 14.58m.

In the distance events, Elia Ton-That had the top finish for the Lions, placing second in the 3000m with a time of 9:42.63.

On Saturday evening, the Lions continued to compete at the Armory in the TCNJ Indoor Open. The highlight of the meet came in the mile run, where Jacob Van Orden (4:08.14) and Maggie Boler (5:02.17) both finished in first place.

Moriah Luetjen took first in the 400m with a time of 57.09. In addition, Collin Moore (1.93m) and Norina Khanzada (1.68m) won the high jump events, Mignonne de Beer (5.72m) won the long jump, and Liam Wright (4.60m) and Lucy Markow (3.62m) won the pole vault.

Elsewhere, Columbia sent its throwers to compete at the Army Crowell Open, where history was made.

Mia Hoskins took second in the weight throw, setting a new program record with a mark of 17.94m.

Marcus Blasucci also placed second in the shot put, with the second best mark in program history at 17.59m.

Parker Kim won the weight throw with a throw of 19.70m.

Full results from the Armory Collegiate Distance Carnival, including all of Columbia’s other top finishers, can be found HERE.

Full results from the TCNJ Indoor Open, including all of Columbia’s other top finishers, can be found HERE.

Full results from the Army Crowell Open, including all of Columbia’s other top finishers, can be found HERE.

ON DECK:

The Lions will be off the rest of December for the holidays, before returning to action in the new year on January 9 in the TCNJ Lions Invite at the Armory.

Stay up to date on all things Columbia track & field by following the Lions on Twitter (@CULionsXCTF), Instagram (@culionsxctf) and on Facebook (@ColumbiaAthletics).

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Sports

Nebraska advances to Sweet 16 after sweeping Kansas State

Published

20 minutes ago

December 7, 2025

Your Sports Nation

Nebraska hosted Kansas State in the second round of the NCAA Volleyball Tournament on Saturday.The Huskers got on the board first thanks to Harper Murray.Virginia Adriano forced a Wildcat timeout after a solo block and a kill. Nebraska led 13-7.Check out this incredible play.Nebraska won set 1, 25-17.Kansas State got on the board first, but the Huskers bounced back quickly.The Huskers won set 2, 25-21.The Wildcats got out ahead of the Huskers, but Andi Jackson was able to tie things up at five apiece.Adriano with a kill made it 18-12 Nebraska.With a 25-16 set 3 win, the Husker swept Kansas State to advance to the Sweet 16 for the 41st time in program history.Nebraska will play Kansas in the next round of the tournament. The time and date have yet to be announced.Make sure you can always see the latest news, weather, sports and more from KETV NewsWatch 7 on Google search.NAVIGATE: Home | Weather | Local News | National | Sports | Newscasts on demand |

LINCOLN, Neb. —

Nebraska hosted Kansas State in the second round of the NCAA Volleyball Tournament on Saturday.