via Teenager tells court she made up church leader massage claims – Nehanda Radio Apr 25, 2015
SCOTLAND – A teenager has told a Scottish court that claims a church leader induced her to massage his partially-naked body were lies.
The girl, who cannot be named for legal reasons, told her aunt and the police that the churchman, Walter Masocha, had a room off his bedroom in his country home equipped with a massage table.
She originally claimed she rubbed his arms and legs with oil while he lay in the dark with a towel over his lower body.
The girl, who is now 15, retracted her claims at the start of the fourth day of the trial of Masocha, 51, founder of the Stirling-based Agape For All Nations Church.
She told the jury she made up the claims after she saw a blog written by an earlier witness in the case, whom Masocha is accused of sexually assaulting, and after her aunt spoke to her about the case.
Giving evidence from behind a screen at Falkirk Sheriff Court, the girl, who attends a school in England, said she had been to Masocha’s home, Cosyneuk House, near Stirling, several times.
But she said she had never, as alleged, given him a massage.
She said: “I know it may seem really bad, but I didn’t give a massage, ever. I felt I had to lie and I just kept on with the lie because I didn’t want to look bad.”
She said that at the time she made the allegations she had stopped being a member of the church after her father said it would be best for them not to go, but she was now a member once again.
Prosecutor Alison Montgomery asked her: “Has somebody told you to change what you’ve said to your aunt and the police?”
The girl replied: “No.”
Closing her case, Ms Montgomery said the Crown were no longer seeking convictions on two charges against Masocha which alleged that he engaged in sexual activity, namely the massages, with the girl.
Sheriff Kenneth McGowan told jurors: “You can put a pencil through them.”
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