A blind man is suing Chi Alpha Campus Ministries for allegedly introducing him to convicted sex offender Daniel Savala, whom the man says sexually abused him repeatedly from 2017—2022. The suit also names the Assemblies of God (AG), which sponsors Chi Alpha, and the AG South Texas District office, which the man claims are guilty of “gross negligence.”
On Wednesday, the blind man, identified as John Doe, filed the lawsuit. Doe, who lives in the Houston area, alleges that Chi Alpha campus leaders transported Doe and other students to Savala’s Houston residence to do repairs “under the guise of doing mission work.”
What began as Savala making “inappropriate sexual comments” to the blind student progressed to “nudity, masturbation, oral sex; and penetrative sex,” states the lawsuit. It adds that Savala lured Doe into trusting him, even claiming a biblical basis for his “sexually motivated” maxims.
“He would say things like, ‘Nudity is unity,’” said Doe’s lawyer, Anjali Nigam, in an interview with ABC13 Houston. “He used it as part of his grooming process, to normalize the sexual abuse.”
Savala, a convicted sex offender since 2012, has allegedly abused and raped dozens of college students and minors, as previously reported by The Roys Report (TRR). Last June, Savala was arrested on child sex abuse charges and his criminal case is ongoing in Harris County, Texas.
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The latest lawsuit states that, in 2017, when Doe was a student at Sam Houston State University in Houston, Chi Alpha leaders arranged for Doe to meet Savala, a man they called an “important religious leader.”
The 20-page lawsuit contends that the AG, the nation’s largest evangelical-charismatic denomination, failed to monitor and investigate Savala’s alleged abuses over decades despite repeated warnings from whistleblowers.
”The decades-long history of sexual abuse at this church runs all the way to the top,” states the suit. “(Leaders) chose not to take action to protect” Doe and others.
Doe’s suit cites medical expenses he has incurred, as well as physical pain, mental anguish, and disfigurement he allegedly experienced. It seeks monetary relief in excess of $1 million from the AG and its related ministries.
The new lawsuit is the latest development in a widening sex scandal involving Savala and Christian groups that allegedly enabled him, including a separate lawsuit filed in January.
TRR reached out to the Assemblies of God for a response to the latest lawsuit, and national AG spokesperson Mark Forrester replied, “We cannot comment on pending litigation.”
He referred TRR to a statement originally issued last September, which was later expanded.
It states that AG leadership is “heartbroken to hear allegations related to Daniel Savala and the pain his reported actions caused” and adds that the denomination “stands in strong opposition to the teachings and practices he followed.”
Convicted sex offender enabled by “the two Eli’s”
Campus ministers in more than 300 Chi Alpha chapters are credentialed by the Missouri-based AG denomination and sponsored by AG churches as missionaries.
At Sam Houston State University (SHSU), Chi Alpha campus leaders included two former Savala mentees, Eli Stewart and Eli Gautreaux, states the lawsuit, which includes a diagram of the AG oversight structure.
In 2012, Savala was initially charged and convicted of child sex abuse in an Alaska State court. As an itinerant youth minister in the mid-1990’s, he would allegedly groom teenage boys through wrestling that progressed to nudity and masturbation.
Years after he was a youth group member under Savala, Stewart and fellow Savala mentee Gautreaux spearheaded a letter-writing campaign to the Alaska judge on Savala’s behalf.
“Judge Carey needs to see character in terms of positive influence he has on others and the sacrificial way he pours his life out as an offering,” wrote Stewart and Gautreaux.
Savala pleaded down to a single charge in the 2012 case, served only 90 days in prison, and was required to register as a sex offender.
A year later, Doe entered SHSU as a freshman and, upon joining Chi Alpha, “the two Eli’s” introduced him to Savala. Stewart later became the district leader for all Chi Alpha chapters in north Texas. Gautreaux was put in charge of Chi Alpha in south Texas and New Mexico.
Last May, in the wake of media reports on Savala, Stewart, and Gautreaux were suspended from their positions. Stewart was also dismissed as pastor of his central Texas church, as elders stated he “neglected his duty to protect his flock from a known predator” (Savala).
In January, the AG confirmed Gautreaux and Stewart no longer hold ministerial credentials.
New allegations of AG culpability in Savala’s abuse
The lawsuit challenges some assertions of the AG’s public statement about the sex offender, which claims that Savala “was never on staff with any Chi Alpha campus ministry.”
But the lawsuit states: “In 1989, the University of Louisiana–Lafayette yearbook identified Savala as a Chi Alpha staff member.”
The AG’s statement seems to sidestep direct culpability for Savala’s role in Chi Alpha chapters, noting that the AG “takes matters of this nature seriously and will do everything we can to help.”
Specifically, the statement claims “a report first surfaced to the General Council and National Chi Alpha in 2018 of Mr. Savala’s proximity to certain local Texas Chi Alpha groups,” and that leaders were notified.
But the lawsuit alleges that Tim Barker, General Superintendent of the AG’s South Texas District, was aware of Savala’s sexual abuse in 2013 or earlier.
The suit adds that Savala “served as a counselor” at an AG-run camp in Kerrville, Texas, in the early 1990s, and Barker took his youth group to that camp during those summers.
TRR has reached out to Barker and the AG’s South Texas District office repeatedly since last May, including for this story, and has never received a response.
An email published online from Barker dated May 17, 2023, claimed that the district had hired a law firm to “independently investigate” the claims against Savala.
Ten months later, no findings or summary of that investigation have been released despite repeated requests.
Olivia Wolf, a spokesperson for XA & The Lions Den, a group of whistleblowers and advocates who have sought to expose Savala’s abuses, called the latest lawsuit a “milestone towards accountability” that is “bittersweet to celebrate.”
“We would be remiss not to acknowledge the pain and suffering that this (man) is enduring,” Wolf said. “We honor his bravery in seeking justice and support him as he begins this long journey.”
Regarding Savala’s criminal case in Harris County, a first bail hearing is set for March 20.
Doe v. Assemblies of God, Chi Alpha, et. al. – Lawsuit filed Mar. 13, 2024
Lawsuit-13-Mar-2024-John-Doe-Savala-Chi-Alpha
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.
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5 Responses
I still find it breathtaking that the AOG still hasn’t come forwarded with a significant housecleaning of the leadership responsible for this debacle. I guess they’re prayin’ for a miracle or something. We don’t need any more “signs and wonders”…just some basic common human decency.
As for Savala being a “staff member” at Chi Alpha Lafayette, my understanding is that the Chi Alpha director at each campus must be a credentialed minister/appointed US missionary with the A/G, but that each chapter may have their own volunteer “staff” that are not directly related to/vetted by the A/G credentialing process. What they need to do is add a requirement for all XA chapters to run background checks on all volunteers working with the ministry, just like local A/G churches are urged to do for any volunteers having contact with minors. College students may be legal adults, but they are still vulnerable and impressionable and should be protects just like high schoolers are.
Background checks wouldn’t have helped here. They knew that he was a registered sex offender and did not care. National AG and the university had both told them the cease contact with the predator, and they refused and became secretive about it so outsiders didn’t know what was happening.
In which case, they (meaning the various AoG/XA leaders) can be held civilly and criminally liable for conspiracy and the like.
A crime against a disabled (physically or mentally) person, especially one of sexual abuse, is an automatic increase in the category of the felony in most jurisdictions. Plus a major, major increase in the potential civil damages. The AoG might as well sign over the titles to all their assets when this is done. By the way, insurance companies invariably have a clause in their policy to not pay due to negligence and similar.