CORPUS CHRISTI (TX)
The Roys Report [Chicago IL]
April 2, 2024
By Josh Shepherd
A Texas college pastor who sexually abused an underage family member for 7 years will not serve any jail time due to a recent plea agreement. The pastor, William C. Robinson, led a chapter of Chi Alpha Campus Ministries and was mentored by sex offender Daniel Savala, the central figure in a widening sex abuse scandal.
On March 22, Robinson, 47, appeared at a district court hearing in Nueces County, Texas, and accepted a plea deal. That deal, approved by District Judge David Stith, deferred Robinson’s sentence for five felony charges related to child sex abuse and gave him 10 years of probation and 120 hours of community service instead.
According to court records, Robinson 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.
“The offender in this case, by his own (admission) and by his acts, gives cause for concern for the child’s safety as well as others, which warrants his apprehension,” stated the 2022 arrest affidavit for Robinson, as reported by local NBC affiliate KRIS News. Police are not aware of additional victims, according to a previous report.
In the indictment reported by KRIS News, Robinson admitted to sexually abusing an underage family member from July 2015, when the girl was nine years old, until June 2022, when Robinson was arrested.
The terms of Robinson’s probation include no contact with his victim, an evening curfew, monitored internet access, and required parenting classes. If he adheres to the terms, Robinson will be able to apply to have his criminal record expunged.
For two decades, starting in 2002, Robinson served as the founding leader and pastor of the Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi (TAMUCC) chapter of Chi Alpha, the college outreach ministry of the Assemblies of God (AG).
According to multiple sources, Robinson is among several Chi Alpha leaders in south-central Texas who connected college students with Savala, a registered sex offender since 2012.
Savala allegedly abused and raped dozens of college students and minors, as previously reported by The Roys Report (TRR), including multiple victims who filed lawsuits in recent weeks. Last June, Savala was arrested on child sex abuse charges and his criminal case is ongoing in Harris County, Texas.
Keenan Laymon, a former student in the TAMUCC chapter of Chi Alpha, told TRR that Robinson introduced him to Savala when Laymon was a freshman, in 2016.
“There was a lot of mystery and aura around Daniel Savala and what he preached,” Laymon told TRR. “Will (Robinson) presented it as a huge blessing to get to glean from Daniel.”
Robinson was ordained in May 2017 by AG South Texas District Superintendent Tim Barker.
In a statement to TRR, the AG national press office confirmed that Robinson has not held credentials in the denomination since 2022.
For several years, Robinson was also an elder at Trinity Worship Center in Corpus Christi, as referenced in his ordination ceremony in 2017.
“We continue to be deeply committed to all those affected by the offenses and legal outcomes of Will Robinson’s failures,” Reverend Jeffry Fox, current pastor of Trinity, told TRR.
Robinson sent college students to Savala’s home
Since last year, multiple reports and criminal indictments have revealed how Savala was welcomed as a mentor by at least a dozen Chi Alpha chapters in south-central Texas.
Laymon told TRR that “perverted teachings about nudity and masturbation” were interwoven within Chi Alpha teachings in that region.
Serving with Will Robinson at that time was Chris Hundl, who has since been indicted on child sex abuse charges. Hundl began his tenure with Chi Alpha in 2004, under Robinson at Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi (TAMUCC).
The perverted teachings “trickled down from Daniel Savala to Will (Robinson) and Chris (Hundl), ideas that were taught in order to groom college kids,” Laymon said.
Laymon added that Robinson once suggested Laymon spend the night at Savala’s home, which included a sauna. Laymon recalls the interaction with Savala was “really, really weird.”
“He got in the sauna naked and pressured me to, which I did,” said Laymon. “Then he talked about spiritual submission for 30 minutes, even asking me if I’m a ‘good soldier.’ It creeped me out. I’m thinking, ‘Man, something is off—but this is Daniel, the spiritual guru.’”
Laymon told TRR that Savala did not abuse him during his overnight stay.
That fall, Laymon reported the grooming incident to Robinson.
“The script got flipped on me,” said Laymon. “I ended up having to repent to Will about not submitting to spiritual authority.”
The Christian college group continued to send small groups of students to Savala’s Houston home on “mission trips.” Laymon recounted another time when Hundl and several Chi Alpha small group leaders visited Savala and stripped together.
TRR contacted the Chi Alpha chapter at TAMUCC but did not receive a response.
‘There is no justice here’
Abuse survivor advocates have expressed outrage at the sentence Robinson has received.
Ron Bloomingkemper Jr., who founded online forum XA & The Lions Den to expose Savala’s conduct and support survivors, said, “There is no justice here. Those in positions of authority who are supposed to protect people have actually preyed upon them.”
Similarly, Monica Roeger, a moderator at that forum, said, “Sexual abuse is a life sentence of overcoming trauma. It’s hard not to imagine Lady Justice using her blindfold to wipe tears away at this moment.”
She noted that Savala only served 90 days in jail for his first conviction, which did not deter him. “Robinson was one of Daniel’s close protégés,” she added. “There is nothing to indicate that Robinson won’t continue to prey on young innocent people in the same ways that Daniel did.”
Laymon said Savala’s influence remains in Chi Alpha chapters across Texas and surrounding states, and all the Chi Alpha leaders there need to be removed.
“So many people within Chi Alpha leadership grew up there, have never left, and never had another job,” Laymon said. “Everything that they’ve been taught has included these perverted teachings of Daniel Savala.”
In November, Chi Alpha National Director E. Scott Martin resigned. Recently, two Savala protégés lost their AG ministerial credentials: Eli Stewart, former North Texas leader of Chi Alpha; and Eli Gautreaux, South Texas leader.
Regional AG leadership, notably South Texas AG Superintendent Tim Barker, has been silent.
An email published online from Barker, dated May 17, 2023, claimed that the district had hired a law firm to “independently investigate” the claims against Savala. Eleven months later, no findings or summary of that investigation have been released.
TRR has reached out repeatedly to the South Texas AG District Office since last May, including for this story, but has never received a response.