(TX)
The Roys Report [Chicago IL]
May 23, 2024
By Josh Shepherd
Three men who were leaders in a central Texas church youth group and part of Chi Alpha Campus Ministries were arrested on child sex abuse charges, according to county records. It’s the latest arrest in a widening sex scandal centered on former Chi Alpha mentor, Daniel Savala.
On Thursday, the Brazos County Sheriff’s Office arrested two men, Ryan Hoffart, 25, and William Johnson, 23. The day prior, Otto “Bo” Randolph, 30, was arrested. All three men were charged with indecency with a child by exposure, a third-degree felony in Texas. In addition, Hoffart was charged with indecency with a child by sexual contact, a second-degree felony.
The three men were booked at Brazos County Detention Center in Bryan and released on bail the same day as their arrests, a county court clerk representative told The Roys Report (TRR). Hoffart covered a $100,000 bond, and Johnson and Randolph are out on $25,000 bonds.
The criminal charges are linked to a civil lawsuit filed by Steve Holt, who alleged that his teenage son was “groomed” and “preyed upon” by the three men arrested today and a fourth man, Alex Owens, who has not yet been arrested. The suit states the four men were members of Texas A&M University’s chapter of Chi Alpha Campus Ministries, a Christian fraternity and global college outreach ministry of the Assemblies of God (AG).
The four men were reportedly recruited by Chi Alpha leader Eli Stewart to volunteer at Mountain Valley Fellowship (MVF) in College Station, where Stewart served as lead pastor at the time. The suit alleges the church was “negligent” in giving his son’s abusers “positions which engendered trust.”
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For years, Stewart, also a statewide leader of Chi Alpha, brought in his longtime mentor Daniel Savala—a registered sex offender—ostensibly to “disciple” and mentor students in Chi Alpha.
Currently in prison awaiting trial, Savala has been accused of raping or sexually assaulting at least 13 men and minors in recent years. All the alleged victims are reportedly linked to Chi Alpha chapters on about ten college campuses in south-central Texas.
The lawsuit filed in January by Holt claims that in October 2021, his son, then age 13, was taken by Hoffart on a youth group-related trip to Savala’s residence in Houston, which has a sauna.
The teenage boy was allegedly “made (to) strip off his clothing and sit naked with (Hoffart and Savala) in a small sauna” and sexually abused by both men.
In June 2022, at a gathering of the Texas A&M Chi Alpha chapter that Holt’s son attended, the four men allegedly sexually assaulted him.
Specifically, the suit claims that the men exposed themselves to the boy; “dry humped” him; and “(rubbed) their hands on (his) thighs and into his crotch.” Recently filed criminal charges against Hoffart, Johnson, and Randolph note an offense date of June 1, 2022.
The lawsuit also recounts multiple subsequent incidents instigated by the Texas youth group leaders. For example, in August 2022, the men allegedly “took (Holt’s son) skinny dipping and engaged in other acts of grooming” during a “leadership trip” to Colorado.
The suit is seeking “in excess of $1 million” in damages from The General Council of the AG (the denomination’s governing body); the North Texas District Council of the AG; Mountain Valley Fellowship; and Chi Alpha Campus Ministries of College Station.
A representative of the Brazos County Criminal Court detailed the criminal charges against Hoffart, Johnson, and Randolph. She stated that the prosecution agreed to a preliminary hearing on the charges but a date has not been set.
Six men now arrested in widening scandal
Last May, reports first chronicled Savala’s past criminal child sex abuse in the 1990’s and his decades of access to Texas college students since then through Chi Alpha.
Within weeks, the church board and elders at MVF dismissed Stewart as pastor, stating that he had “neglected his duty to protect his flock from a known predator,” referring to Savala.
Savala and two former mentees—Chris Hundl who led Chi Alpha at Baylor University and Will Robinson of Chi Alpha at Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi—have been indicted on abuse charges.
This church is affiliated with the Assemblies of God (AG), the nation’s largest charismatic-evangelical denomination, which also credentials the ministers who lead chapters of Chi Alpha Campus Ministries.
Since Savala’s arrest, the national director of Chi Alpha has resigned and local chapter leaders of at least six college campuses have been dismissed and lost their AG ministerial credentials.
TRR reached out to the national AG press office and the North Texas District of the AG for comment on the recent arrests but did not receive a response. The denomination’s response statement posted online last fall has been challenged as inaccurate.
This article has been corrected to accurately identiy the college campus with which Robinson is affiliated.
Freelance journalist Josh Shepherd writes on faith, culture, and public policy for several media outlets. He and his family live in the Washington, D.C. area.