Harris County lawsuit alleges Brazos Valley church leaders knew about child sexual abuse

BRAZOS COUNTY, Texas (KBTX) – The Mountain Valley Fellowship Church in Brazos County and Texas A&M’s Chi Alpha Christian fraternity are two of several faith-based organizations named in a civil lawsuit filed in a Harris County district court. The lawsuit alleges the groups were negligent in failing to protect a 13-year-old College Station boy from child molestation.

In the lawsuit, the boy’s father says Mountain Valley Fellowship Church in South Brazos County should be held responsible for negligence after introducing sex offender Daniel Savala to children. He says Savala’s involvement with the church led to grooming and molestation perpetrated by him and at least four Chi Alpha fraternity members. All four fraternity members are mentioned by name in the lawsuit, but were not named as defendants and have not been charged with a crime.

The suit does name the General Council of the Assemblies of God and North Texas District Council of the Assemblies of God as defendants, along with Mountain Valley Fellowship and Chi Alpha Campus Ministries, College Station.

The Harris County filing says church and leaders knew Savala was convicted of sexual abuse in 2012 for crimes that happened when he was working as a youth pastor in Alaska in the late 1990s. Records say Savala served 90 days behind bars for the conviction and was required to register annually as a sex offender.

Following his sentence, court records say Savala spent years involved with ministry programs in the Brazos Valley, including Chi Alpha chapters at Sam Houston State, Texas A&M, and Baylor Universities. Last year, Savala was arrested at his home in Houston for the trafficking of a minor after being indicted by a McLennan County grand jury. This charge has since been updated as continual sexual abuse of a young child.

In arresting documents, police detailed sexual abuse involving Savala, a Baylor Chi Alpha campus minister, and two young boys at his home in Houston. Police say Savala spent time in a sauna with the boys and molested them on numerous occasions.

These details echo claims in the new lawsuit from Harris County. The College Station father says his 13-year-old was taken to Savala’s home in Houston by a member of Texas A&M’s Chi Alpha fraternity, where the two men groomed and molested his son in a sauna.

Following this interaction, the documents outline two additional interactions of grooming or molestation involving Chi Alpha fraternity members. Those incidents include a leadership trip to Colorado with a group of Chi Alpha members, where court documents say the men took the 13-year-old skinny dipping and engaged in other acts of grooming. The final allegation says months later, the 13-year-old was invited to a fraternity gathering where he was molested by four members, including the man accused of taking the boy to Savala’s home.

The filing argues church leaders at Mountain Valley Fellowship must have known about Savala’s behavior, in part because of the Brazos County church’s founder, Eli Stewart. Stewart worked as the lead pastor at Mountain Valley Fellowship until the church parted ways with him in 2023. At the time, the church shared a letter to members saying they learned of “some major allegations against our Pastor and grievances against our church,” leading to the separation.

In what is believed to be his last speech to the congregation, a YouTube video recorded by an audience member shows Stewart sharing what he describes as shock and sadness to learn about “credible” allegations against Savala. In this speech, Stewart also announced he is stepping away.

Church members and court documents, however, say Stewart himself was sexually abused by Savala as a boy in Alaska, but still brought him to the congregation. Documents and online reports also allege Stewart helped spearhead a petition for Savala to be given a lighter sentence in his 2012 conviction.

KBTX reached out to the Mountain Valley Fellowship Board of Directors for comment. A lawyer representing the group said “MVF has no comment on the lawsuit or the allegations at this time. The church is certainly concerned for the well-being of the Holt family and for MVF’s continuing church body. The church will address the lawsuit in the appropriate forum.”

In 2023, The Battalion confirmed Texas A&M was investigating the Chi Alpha fraternity over similar allegations, but the investigation results are not currently public record.

KBTX reached out to Texas A&M twice for comment and an update on the status of the fraternity as a recognized student organization.