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.”
Your tax-deductible gift helps our journalists report the truth and hold Christian leaders and organizations accountable. Give a gift of $50 or more to The Roys Report this month, and you will receive a copy of “Ghosted: An American Story” by Nancy French. To donate, click here.
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.
English 
Spanish
9 Responses
I spent decades of my life involved deeply in evangelical churches, where I was respected, admired & sort as a teacher, mentor, elder, & worship leader. I was then ordained by an AOG ministry out of Minnesota. All this time I fought a filthy sexual lust habit I could NOT break. I had spent hours in fervent prayer, literally crying [with many tears] to God for freedom from this disgusting addiction. I was fully aware that I could NOT honestly claim to anyone that I loved God. I find it SO VERY HARD to believe that millions of pew-warmers & pulpit-bashers of today are guilty of similar sins without guilt, shame, remorse or conviction. Today’s ‘gospel’ assures them that all their sins have been washed away, or atoned for, by the blood of Jesus. This is NEVER taught in any bible.
I was one of those 86M who vacated their pews over two decades. I rejected everything I had been taught by parents, Sunday School teachers, pastors, preachers, ‘Christian’ authors, all of whom I had sought help from. I was clearly aware that that ‘gospel’ has ZERO ability to transform any life. I was told by those I requested counsel from that I was being too hard on myself!! I watched an elder who had told me that, ogling the topless gals on a beach one day not long after he had given me that ‘wise counsel.’
I bought myself several versions of scripture, & a trust concordance, & began a passionate, determined & serious search for God & His truth. The bible is His autobiography, so that is where we need to go to get to know Him. God revealed Himself to me, along with His message of salvation. I learned to fear Him & repented. Ex. 20:20
Colin: blessed be you of the LORD for sharing this. I whole heartedly commend you for your bravery in de-toxifying from rampant wretchedness that is church and her accursed teachings and practices.
You found truth and it has set you free. Many church goers are still unable to pry themselves off of unbiblical and toxic churchianity, its traditions and destructive beliefs and practices.
To fear the LORD, and to depart from all manner and appearances of evil – this is wisdom. Health dosage of fear of the LORD is life and the length of ones days. Good on you. May HIS truth, peace and countenance continually shine upon you.
“Today’s ‘gospel’ assures them that all their sins have been washed away, or atoned for, by the blood of Jesus. This is NEVER taught in any bible.”
Hmmm… I don’t want to get into a theological debate–and this is certainly not the forum for it–but I am not sure what you are asserting here. Doesn’t Ephesians 1:7 say that the blood of Jesus does exactly that?
I am certainly not saying that we should sin that grace might come, or defending lust, but I thought one aspect of the Gospel was the forgiveness that is available to us through the atoning blood of Jesus.
Amen, Doug Duncan; Mr. Stitt is ill-advised….still a “victim” of the, “Holiness Movement”……
It appears that you and Doug Duncan missed the point of Collin Stitt’s comment. You’ve taken a small part of it and you’re zeroing in on that. Go back and read the whole thing.
What’s the best solution? Would better instruction help? Do we have to tell ministers in training, NOT to use people sexually? Isn’t that central to our message already? After more than 40 yrs of attending ministry training and church events of most of the evangelical branches, I’ve never heard one that didn’t emphasize this. I’d certainly like to see it taught via megaphone. However, I believe extreme oversight is the best preventative…unless you can guarantee everyone in the organization is 100% sanctified and filled with the Holy Ghost. Don’t I wish.
Hyperactivity, forced giving, and leadership on boards have emphasis over individual discipleship now. It does not resemble the humble community of Spirit led Christians seen in the Holy Bible.
I am horrified by what those monsters did to that young child.
We, I, need to cut the entertainment addiction out of our lives so that we can hear the conviction and warnings of the Holy Spirit.
I’m not sure if some of the commenters here have been following this whole situation. These leaders had been part of a church group that normalized sexualized behavior with male friends. There was a convicted pedophile that their leaders gave free reign to do as he chose, and he chose to have the men connected with him believe that this is just what men of God did with their friends so that he could abuse men in the group.
As adults these four guys were responsible to know better, but they went along with the sexualized behavior that was modeled for them, and when discipling a young man and inviting him into their friend group, were overly sexual with him. This is likely what they did with all of their male Christian friends when it was just the guys around.
This isn’t an issue so much of lust or needing better boundaries around sex. If those things were the real issue, not to be crass, these young men would have been acting out more in line with what they were actually attracted to. I know of no evidence that these guys were attracted to teenage boys.
The issue was a church culture that promoted a convicted pedophile as a prophet who was openly sexual with others while not teaching these guys to have enough of a brain to think for themselves and realize that people outside of their group don’t behave this way, and if they were like this around a child the police would get involved.
People were not discerning about things that should have required no discernment but merely the most basic conscience.
It is impossible in my view today to be led to believe that this is “what guys do with their male friends”. You have to have lived in a cave to not be aware of what constitutes criminal activity when it comes to sexual behavior.
Why hasn’t this campus ministry been completely shut down? Is there not more harm than good at this point?