Former church children's ministry volunteer sentenced to over 120 years for molesting girls, child porn
A former children’s ministry volunteer at a California church has been sentenced to more than 120 years to life in prison for molesting girls as young as 6, and possessing hundreds of pornographic images of children.
The ministry volunteer also took sexually suggestive images of a minor he met through the church.
Orange County District Attorney Tood Spitzer's office said in a statement last week that Newport Beach resident Todd Christian Hartman was sentenced to 120 years to life plus an additional four years and four months in prison following convictions on two felony counts of a lewd act upon a 14- or 15-year-old and four felony counts of lewd or lascivious acts with a minor younger than 14.
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Hartman, 41, was also convicted on two felony counts of oral copulation or sexual penetration of a child aged 10 or younger and one felony count of possession of child pornography.
The man previously volunteered for the children’s ministry at the Vineyard Church in Anaheim prior to his conviction. Church leaders eventually became concerned about Hartman repeatedly pulling children onto his lap and changed his responsibilities, according to the district attorney’s office.
“Houses of worship should be safe havens from the evils of the world, but instead child predators transform them from a place of safety into a hunting ground for unsuspecting victims for their twisted sexual gratification,” Spitzer said. “No child should have the innocence of childhood robbed from them by anyone, much less someone they were led to believe they could trust.”
According to the state’s elder parole law, Hartman will become eligible for parole after he serves 20 years of his sentence. The Orange County District Attorney expressed sympathy for the victims and their families, referring to the possibility of Hartman receiving parole instead of serving a life sentence as a “harsh reality.” Spitzer maintained that the ministry volunteer’s eligibility for parole in such a short time is the result of “reckless and disgraceful decisions” embraced by the California government.
“We will never leave the sides of our victims and when he does come up for parole we will do everything in our power as prosecutors to keep him behind bars where he undoubtedly belongs,” Spitzer stated.
The Vineyard Church is now called the Dwelling Place Anaheim after the church formally disassociated from Vineyard USA, a movement comprised of hundreds of churches throughout the country. Alan Scott and his wife, Kathryn, who led Vineyard Church Anaheim for four years, announced the split in 2022.
A spokesperson for the church told The Christian Post that none of its current pastoral staff were hired at the time but stressed that the church "cooperated with law enforcement from the beginning of this investigation and throughout the investigation," echoing a 2015 statement issued by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
"Also, according to our records, the church immediately sent a letter out to the parents in the congregation in 2015. That letter ... was direct, transparent, and clear," the Dwelling Place said in a statement. "While this criminal was a volunteer at our church, we are relieved that, to our knowledge, there remains no indication that any of this criminal activity took place while any of the victims were under our care or on our premises."
"We also would like to take this opportunity to encourage anyone reading this who may have been a victim of a crime to contact local law enforcement," the statement adds. "We support every effort by law enforcement to prosecute these types of criminals to the fullest extent of the law.”
In the 2015 letter to parents, the church disclosed that Hartman was arrested for child pornography charges, stating the church had been approached by law enforcement to ask for help in the investigation. After the church became aware of the investigation, Hartman was removed from any volunteer capacity.
The church's 2015 letter stated that the charges were related to "Hartman’s personal computer and activity in his home," and there was no indication that the allegations involved inappropriate use of church computers or "any incidents or allegations involving any children or youth here at the church or in relation with any church activity, event, service, etc."
As explained by the district attorney’s office, Hartman contacted the father of two of his victims in 2016 and admitted that he had repeatedly molested his daughters he met through his volunteer work with the children’s ministry. Hartman began sexually abusing one of the girls when she was 6, and he molested the girl’s sister while taking sexually suggestive photos of her as she sat in his lap.
The church volunteer was also convicted of groping and fondling the genitals of two other girls, ages 12 and 14. Hartman molested the girls in 2009 during a sleepover at a house in Fullerton that belonged to a relative of the girls.
In 2015, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement announced that Hartman was expected to make an appearance in federal court after he was charged with using the internet to download and distribute sexually explicit images of minors. The incidents are believed to have occurred in 2014. Hartman was arrested at the time by ICE, Homeland Security Investigations and Newport Beach Police detectives.
“These allegations are particularly disturbing in light of the defendant’s access to children,” Special Agent Claude Arnold of HSI Los Angeles said in a statement at the time. “HSI will continue to work closely with our local and federal law enforcement partners to investigate those who sexually exploit our young people and ensure that these predators feel the full weight of the law.”
Samantha Kamman is a reporter for The Christian Post. She can be reached at: [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter: @Samantha_Kamman
