SAN DIEGO (KGTV) — San Diego County's District Attorney has charged two men in connection with reports of sexual abuse at an El Cajon-based theater company.
ABC 10News first reported the accusations of sexual abuse at Christian Youth Theater last year, after multiple individuals shared their stories.
Monday, county DA Summer Stephan announced charges against Brad Christian Davis, 40, and David Hott, 34, in connection with sex abuse. Davis has been charged with one felony count of sexual penetration by a foreign object for a 2010 incident involving a 16-year-old child, and Hott has been charged with two felony counts of lewd and lascivious act on a child under the age of 14 for incidents that occurred in 2007 involving a 13-year-old.
In a statement from CYT, the organization said:
"CYT strongly condemns the alleged actions by the accused individuals. The alleged actions of the accused unquestionably contradict our values and our mission. We have a thorough background check process for all our teachers, staff and volunteers as well as ongoing training requirements in child safety. These resources underscore our commitment to the safety of our children. We will continue to fully cooperate with authorities during their investigation. Out of respect to all involved, we are unable to provide further comment."
If convicted, Davis faces up to three years in prison, while Hott faces up to 10 years in prison. Bail was set at $100,000 for each of them.
"Protecting children from sexual predators and making sure they are not revictimized during the criminal justice process is my top priority," Stephan said. "Victims in this case whose abuse was beyond the statute of limitations still provided valuable information and evidence that allowed their voices to be heard and will allow us to seek justice."
RELATED: Claims of sex abuse from multiple former SD Christian Youth Theater students
Stephan's office said it was able to file charges under a law that gives a longer statute of limitations in certain legal circumstances.
The DA's Office and San Diego Police are asking for any additional victims to come forward, and to contact SDPD with more information.
"I’d like to thank all of the victims for their courage in coming forward and our Sex Crimes Detectives for working diligently on this case with the District Attorney’s Office," said SDPD Chief David Nisleit. "We must hold these individuals responsible for their actions, so they don’t have the opportunity to harm more children in the future."
On Monday afternoon, victims' advocate Loxie Gant told ABC 10News, "Knowing that these victims have come forward and made their case known [makes me] very proud of them for taking the amount of time and emotional energy and strength that it really takes to go through this process."
ABC 10News reached out to CYT's director for a comment on the charges. We are waiting to hear back.
