Daniel Savala, Registered Sex Offender, Identified as ‘Spiritual Mentor’ of Former Chi Alpha Minister Charged with Sexual Abuse of a Child
Savala was arrested Friday for also allegedly sexually abusing two boys.
The “spiritual mentor” of a former Chi Alpha minister at Baylor University who has been charged with continuous sexual abuse of a young child has been identified as Daniel Savala, who was arrested Friday (June 2) on charges that he also sexually abused two local boys.
Savala, 67, was arrested by the U.S. Marshals Service Lone Star Task Force, the Waco Police Department in Texas told TV station KWTX. Savala is a registered sex offender who, since being released from prison after pleading guilty to sexual abuse in 2012, has gone on to serve with several Chi Alpha Ministries chapters.
Christopher Hundl, 38, of Waco, was the leader of the Chi Alpha chapter at Baylor since 2019, but recently resigned. He was arrested last month for allegedly encouraging two boys under the age of 15 to perform sexual acts in a sauna, witnessed by himself and another man, who is a registered sex offender. That other man has now been identified as Savala. The improper sexual activity allegedly happened at Savala’s Houston home as well as in a sauna at Hundl’s home in Waco.
Hundl told police he had considered Savala a “spiritual mentor” since he was in college, and that Savala considered masturbation a “spiritual activity.”
Baylor suspended Chi Alpha’s charter after law enforcement officials began investigating Hundl and Savala after referrals from Child Protective Services.
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Chi Alpha World Fellowship is a network of Christian ministries sponsored by the Assemblies of God with a presence on more than 300 college campuses.
In May, a Dallas-area law firm sent a letter to several major university systems on behalf of alleged sexual abuse victims to take steps to limit the activity of Chi Alpha Ministries on their campuses, alleging that Savala used his ties with the group to gain contact with and take advantage of students.
Savala allegedly had ties with five Chi Alpha chapters, and the law firm demanded that the Texas A&M University System, Texas State University System, the University of Houston System, Rice University, and the University of Texas System take action to remove Chi Alpha from their campuses “before more people get hurt.”
Savala pleaded guilty in 2012 in Ketchikan, Alaska, to one charge of third-degree sexual abuse of a minor and was sentenced to two years in prison, with all but 90 days of the sentence suspended.
Continuous sexual abuse of a child in Texas carries a minimum penalty of 25 years in prison without parole up to life in prison without parole.
EDITOR’S NOTE: Why does MinistryWatch report on sex crimes? These stories are tough to read and sometimes even tougher to report, but we think they are vital to our mission to bring transparency, accountability, and credibility to the evangelical church. To read more about why and how we report these stories, read “Why MinistryWatch Reports On Sex Crimes.” You can find that story here.
