Former Chi Alpha pastor gets no prison time for sexual abuse of family member

By Leonardo Blair, Senior Reporter Wednesday, April 03, 2024

William C. Robinson, a former pastor for the Corpus Christi, Texas, chapter of the embattled Chi Alpha Campus Ministries, who pleaded guilty to the continuous sexual abuse of an underage family member beginning when she was 9, will serve no prison time.

Robinson received 10 years of probation as part of a plea deal agreed to on March 22. He is also required to do 120 hours of community service and parenting classes, according to KRIS. His internet access will also be monitored, and he must abide by a curfew from 9 p.m. to 6 a.m. He is required to stay away from his victim.

Robinson, who was arrested on June 11, 2022, pleaded guilty to one count of continuous sexual abuse of a child under 14, one count of sexual assault of a child and three counts of indecency with a child. His abuse of the family member is reported to have occurred between July 11, 2015, and June 27, 2022.

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In exchange for his guilty plea, Robinson can remove the charges from his record at the end of his probation. 

Mark Forrest, Assemblies of God director of communications and public relations, told KRIS that Robinson has not worked with Chi Alpha or held Assemblies of God credentials since 2022. 

Chi Alpha, which is a campus ministry located on around 300 college campuses globally with the support of the Assemblies of God, has been under fire in recent months. Ministry organizers were accused of allowing Daniel Savala, a 67-year-old itinerant minister and convicted sex offender, to prey on young males for more than two decades.

Former Assemblies of God pastor J.R. Armstrong of MAG Church in Orange, Texas, recently announced that his congregation voted to follow in his footsteps and disaffiliate from the Assemblies of God in response to the Chi Alpha scandal.

"Considering the current crisis being faced by this district and fellowship, the board decided that recommending disaffiliation was in our best interest because systematic sexual abuse within this district and others was known dating back to at least 2018," Armstrong told the South Texas Assembly of God network during a March 17 special business meeting.

Armstrong elected not to renew his credentials with the Assemblies of God months after criticizing Assemblies of God General Superintendent Doug Clay for making comments that he believes minimized the abuse Savala is accused of perpetuating on young men through Chi Alpha.

Savala was arrested in Waco last June for allegedly sexually abusing the minor sons of one of his protégés in the ministry.

Last month, a legally blind Sam Houston State University student who was part of Chi Alpha filed a $1 million lawsuit alleging he was sexually abused by Savala while in the ministry.

The lawsuit names several groups as defendants, including the General Council of the Assemblies of God, South Texas District Council Assemblies of God, Inc., also known as South Texas District Council Assemblies of God, Chi Alpha Campus Ministries, USA, and Chi Alpha Campus Ministries Huntsville.

The student listed as John Doe alleges that even though some ministry leaders witnessed Savala engaging in sexual assaults, they still brought youth from religious groups across the state to Savala's house for mission work.

Using information from Assemblies of God training and policies, Armstrong argued that ministry and denomination leaders were grossly negligent in their handling of Savala's abuse in the ministry because they were warned repeatedly that he was a predator from at least 2018.

"In the time between 2018 and April of 2023, it's undeniable that at least three minor children were molested by him. These three boys were allegedly victimized as a direct result of the inaction of elected leadership of the Assemblies of God to follow through on the knowledge that they admit they had at the time," Armstrong argued. "Two of them were sons of an active Chi Alpha missionary. One of them who filed suit in north Texas a few weeks ago was actually 13 at the time."