Trial to Begin Monday for Man Accused of Sexually Abusing Boys

By Jeremiah Dobruck
Daily Pilot
June 3, 2015

http://www.dailypilot.com/news/tn-dpt-me-0604-mckenzie-trial-update-20150603,0,5755673.story

Christopher Bryan McKenzie (Daily Pilot / November 30, 2012)

The trial for a former church volunteer accused of sexually abusing young boys will begin Monday with jury selection, an Orange County prosecutor said Wednesday.

It was unclear until this week whether the trial would be delayed while the district attorney's office worked out getting a witness who lives out of the country to the courtroom.

Officials have secured a visa for the man and can move forward, prosecutor Heather Brown said.

The witness is one of seven people whom officials allege Christopher McKenzie, 48, sexually assaulted over more than a decade.

McKenzie is facing 24 felony charges related to child pornography and sexual abuse of minors, according to court records. He has pleaded not guilty to all 24 counts.

According to law enforcement, McKenzie preyed on boys he met through his neighbors, his job as a pool cleaner or his position as a child-care volunteer at Rock Harbor Church in Costa Mesa, coaxing them into posing for explicit pictures or sexually assaulting them.

Rock Harbor officials said they ran a background check on McKenzie before he became a volunteer and found no red flags.

Police arrested McKenzie in November 2012 after a teenager walked into the Newport Beach police station and alleged that McKenzie had abused him.

McKenzie has been behind bars since then, with bail set at $3 million, according to court records.