ROUND ROCK (TX)
The Roys Report [Chicago IL]
February 9, 2026
By Daniel Silliman
Note: This story contains descriptions of child sexual abuse.
Fourteen women filed suit in federal court last week against a former pastor and regional director of the Texas Baptist Bible Fellowship who possessed images of them being abused as children.
David Lloyd Walther, 59, pleaded guilty to possession of child sexual abuse material back in 2023. According to an FBI investigation, the pastor of Faith Baptist Church in Round Rock, Texas, had more than 100,000 explicit and obscene images of children on two hard drives he carried with him.
Some of the images depicted small boys tied down, gagged and raped. Some showed girls performing sex acts on dogs. The children appeared to be as young as 3, according to the FBI.
Law enforcement was able to identify some of the people in those images and notify them in July 2023. Fourteen of the victims chose to review the evidence, confirming they were the ones being assaulted.
The women are asking for $150,000 each in restitution payments, an amount set by federal law. They filed suit in federal court using pseudonyms, including “April,” “Angela,” “Chelsea,” “Cara” and “Lily” Doe.
When Walther was arrested in 2022, he confessed to downloading the images on his computer at home and in his church office. Investigators found the material in folders with labels including “BDSM” and “Zoo” on hard drives in his laptop bag and in his Jeep.
Walther told the FBI he didn’t consider himself a pedophile but had long struggled with a porn addiction.
“I am sorry I became involved in child pornography,” he said in statement written out for investigators. “I am ashamed and repulsed by my actions and behavior. … I wish I can get help. I need to deal with my addiction.”
Walther told the FBI that he first saw images depicting child sexual abuse when he was a child himself, around age 10.
He said he started seeking out child sexual abuse materials in his 40s. Walther, a married father of two adult children, estimated he looked at the images once or twice per week.
Walther led the Texas church, just north of Austin, for 18 years, the Austin American-Statesman reported. A deacon at the church said at the time that, “We regret anything along these lines that has happened.”
A short while later, Walther was out of a job. His church merged with Southern Hills Baptist, a nearby congregation, in April 2023. Southern Hills Pastor Mathew Breeden took over the combined church.
Faith Baptist did not immediately respond to a phone call. The church is part of the Baptist Bible Fellowship International, which traces its history to the controversial fundamentalist preacher J. Frank Norris, who led a split from the Southern Baptists in the 1930s.
Walther said no one at Faith Baptist knew about his interest in child sexual abuse before his arrest. It was his secret, he said. He told the FBI he’d go through cycles where he downloaded massive quantities of images and videos and cycles where he deleted the material, binging and purging.
Walther confessed he’d viewed images, then deleted them, the day before law enforcement showed up at his home.
“Because I am ashamed,” Walther wrote, “I have been unable to overcome my addiction.”
Walther claimed he never personally hurt any children. The FBI did not find any evidence the pastor had produced child sexual abuse material himself.
Federal prosecutors said the case was “especially disturbing,” because Walther was trusted in the community.
“Many families in the Round Rock area placed their trust in this man when he served as a leader in faith for their community,” U.S. Attorney Jaime Esparza said in 2023. “I hope that those families can find comfort in knowing our law enforcement partners and justice system are committed to protecting them, ensuring that predators such as Walther cannot continue to pose a threat to innocent children.”
Walther was sentenced to more than five years in prison and ordered to pay a $61,000 fine.
Court records show that by September 2025, Walther had only paid $3,495. The court ordered the garnishment of 15% of his church pension, about $332 out of $2,217 per month.
If the 14 victims win their suit, the court could order the liquidation of any property Walther owns. Local property records show Walther and his wife their sold a home to relatives in 2022 for $287,000.