Sex offender linked to arrest of Baylor Chi Alpha minister arrested in Houston | #childpredator | #kidsaftey | #childsaftey

Shipley said Daniel Savala, 67, was arrested by the U.S. Marshal’s Lone Star Task Force and was charged with continuous sexual abuse of a child, a first-degree felony. 

Waco police put out an arrest warrant for Savala last week after the arrest of minister Chris Hundl, 38, on May 25, Shipley said. Hundl was also charged with continuous sexual abuse of a child, and according to his warrant, allowed Savala access to two young family members on several occasions between summer 2021 and March 2022.

The warrant says Hundl told investigators he took the children to use a sauna at Savala’s home in Houston, where Savala instructed the children to masturbate in front of Savala and Hundl. The warrant says this abuse also occurred in a sauna at Hundl’s home in Waco.

The warrant also says Savala touched the children inapropriately while Hundl was present. The warrant says Hundl and Savala told the children not to tell anyone.

According to the warrant, Hundl spoke of Savala to investigators as a “spiritual mentor” and said he acted as a “grandfather” to the children.

Savala is a convicted sex offender who is at the center of a sexual abuse scandal plaguing several Texas chapters of Chi Alpha, a worldwide college Christian ministry affiliated with the Assemblies of God. Baylor University last month suspended the Chi Alpha chapter pending an investigation.

According to the Texas sex offender registry, Savala was charged in 2012 for sexual abuse of a minor, a third-degree felony.

According to court documents, he committed the offense in Alaska between 1995 and 1997. An Oct. 25, 2012 Ketchikan Daily News article says Savala was sentenced to 90 days in prison for the offense, in part because the crime took place when sentencing guidelines for sex offenders were lighter.