A church in a Texas college town, a chapter of campus ministry Chi Alpha, and its sponsoring denomination, the Assemblies of God, are being sued by a father who alleges that the leaders he commissioned to make his son A teenage disciple stripped him naked in ministries and used their position of authority to sexually abuse him.
The trial, filed Thursday, follows several tumultuous months for Chi Alpha. Since last spring, a serial predator has been jailed for child sex abuse, the leaders of a half-dozen Texas universities have been fired and the organization’s national director has resigned.
The majority of outgoing leaders had ties to Daniel Savala, a registered sex offender who groomed and abused Chi Alpha students for decades at his home in Houston. It was indicted last year on charges of sexual abuse and child trafficking.
Although Savala is not officially part of Chi Alpha or the Assemblies of God, the list of leaders who have left reflects the reach of his informal network throughout Chi Alpha in Texas.
The recent lawsuit alleges that Savala molested a 13-year-old in 2021 and that four Chi Alpha students continued to sexually violate the youth group member through nude and inappropriate ministry play.
The teenage victim attended Mountain Valley Fellowship in College Station. The Assemblies of God church was led by Eli Stewart, a longtime Chi Alpha leader who started the chapter at nearby Texas A&M University.
The victim’s father, Stephen Holt, is suing the church and local chapter of Chi Alpha as well as the General Council and the North Texas District Council of the Assemblies of God for “malice” and “gross negligence” for failing to to warn parents and protect children. against abuse.
Last year, Stewart was fired by Mountain Valley Fellowship for “sinful practices” and neglecting “his duty to protect his flock from a known predator.” An investigation is underway.
Stewart first met Savala at his childhood church in Alaska. He maintained a relationship with him through a previous conviction for child sexual abuse and continued to support him as a spiritual leader until an online forum outed Savala last year.
The lawsuit alleges that Stewart allowed members of A&M’s Chi Alpha to lead the youth group and visit Savala’s home, even though Stewart knew of his sex offender status.
According to the filing, the minor victim sat naked and had inappropriate contact with Savala in his home sauna in October 2021, which appears to be many other accounts of abuse by Savala. The following year, the boy took to swimming during an out-of-state leadership trip and played games involving genital touching at a Chi Alpha event.
He criticizes the Church for placing students in positions “where they would have unsupervised control over minor children and which engendered trust by creating an environment in which they would have unsupervised control over minor children.” .
Holt told CT that a week before learning of his son’s abuse, he had strange dreams. During prayer the next morning, he said he felt the Lord telling him to prepare for something to come, but he didn’t know what.
“We were overcome with so many emotions when we found out,” Holt said. “The Lord, in His own way, prepared us for this, even before we discovered everything… This situation could easily have distanced us from the Lord, but it actually brought us closer to Him.
His family left Mountain Valley Fellowship for another church.
Chi Alpha has not publicly responded to questions regarding Savala and the investigations except to reference an updated report. statement of the Assemblies of God.
The denomination reiterates that Savala was not officially part of Chi Alpha and that the national office “informed relevant Chi Alpha leaders of his status and warned them to cease all contact and not allow students or leaders to be around him” after a 2018 report. But several chapters continued to visit him, including A&M.
CT contacted the Assemblies of God by email for comment on the lawsuit Friday evening and did not receive a response at the time of publication.
Chi Alpha victims and advocates on the “XA and the Lion’s Den” forum called on the organization to take responsibility and acknowledge a larger problem that allowed Savala to continue to abuse and others to commit even.
“The entire system in parts of Chi Alpha needs to be reformed and new leadership needs to be put in place,” one message read. read. “The Bible says in Galatians 5:9, “A little leaven leavens the whole lump.” So even a little “half-truth”, a little “perverted teaching”, a little “group masturbation in Bible studies” is the leaven that can affect and destroy the entire organization.
Chris Hundl, mentored by Savala and who had led the chapter at Baylor University, was also stopped last year for taking boys to masturbate in Savala’s sauna.
Other campus leaders who arranged for students to visit Savala for mission trips, for discipleship or for advice on sexuality have resigned or lost their jobs: Jason Bell of Sam Houston State University in Huntsville ; Josh Bell of Rice University in Houston; Daniel Young of the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley; and Johnny Hauck of the University of Texas at San Antonio.
An Assemblies of God spokesperson confirmed to CT that they “do not hold Chi Alpha positions” and that “steps taken as a result of investigations have already resulted in various actions, including the firing of ministers.”
Chi Alpha’s district director for New Mexico and Texas, Eli Gautreaux, was also suspended during an investigation, and the denomination confirmed he no longer held that position. Chi Alpha National Director E. Scott Martin has resigned.
In 2022, Will Robinson of Texas A&M University – Corpus Christi was also stopped on separate charges of child sexual abuse.
The online forum job Holt’s trial Friday with a message saying: “XA Lions Den and our moderation team ask that you pray for peace and courage for this young man and his family and encourage them with your comments during this time in their lives.” We ask that you pray for speedy justice and full accountability for all parties involved.
