A self-styled preacher wept and thanked God when he was cleared by a jury of sexually assaulting a girl and beating two children.

William Dorgu dropped briefly to his knees in the dock at Bradford Crown Court yesterday after a jury acquitted him of all ten charges.

It took the panel little more than half an hour to find the former Bradford pastor not guilty of three offences of sexual assault and seven of causing actual bodily harm.

Dorgu, 45, said: “Thank you, Daddy,” referring to God, and broke down in tears when the Recorder of Bradford, Judge James Stewart QC, said he was discharged from court.

During the trial, two children accused Dorgo of beating them with plastic rods, sticks and belts when he ran his God Cares Ministry in Laisterdyke and Thornbury, Bradford.

Dorgu, who told the court he came to the United Kingdom from his native Nigeria in the late 1990s, said he wanted to help the community and do good with his ministry.

He said he set up his church in Bradford in 2000 after working as assistant to a pastor in Africa.

Dorgu, who lived alone in Bradford, moved to the London area in 2007.

The Crown alleged that while he was preaching in Bradford, he kept an assortment of metal, wood and plastic implements to beat the children with.

The Crown accused him of making his victims choose an instrument with which to assault them.

Dorgu, who said he loved children, denied ever abusing them.

The jury rejected the girl’s claim that he sexually assaulted her in a room at his church and on two further occasions.

Dorgu told the jury all the accusations were entirely fabricated and said he was shocked by allegations that he regularly beat the youngsters.