A former Sunday school volunteer was sentenced Friday to 60 years to life in prison for sexually abusing young boys, including some he met through churches in Newport Beach and Costa Mesa.______
Sending 51-year-old Christopher McKenzie to prison presumably for the rest of his life ensures he will not be able to hurt anyone else, Orange County Superior Court Judge Patrick Donahue said after handing down his decision.
Jurors convicted McKenzie in July of 20 felonies related to molesting five boys and trying to lure a sixth into sexual situations. The charges included lewd acts with a child under 14, possession of child pornography and using a minor for sex acts.
During the trial, prosecutors laid out a pattern of McKenzie grooming victims by inviting them to help on his rounds as a pool cleaner, watching movies, buying them fast food and taking them on camping trips.
A 51-year-old former volunteer Sunday school teacher at Rock Harbor Church in Costa Mesa and Christ Church by the Sea in Newport Beach was convicted Wednesday afternoon of sexually assaulting five boys and attempting to attack a sixth.
Actually, there could have been a seventh victim, but the boy was unable to make it back from South Africa to testify against Christopher Bryan McKenzie Sr., who nonetheless faces at least 135 years to life in prison and up to 160 years at his scheduled Sept. 4 sentencing in Santa Ana, according to Senior Deputy District Attorney Heather Brown.
The Costa Mesa resident met three victims through Rock Harbor, one through Christ Church by the Sea, two through relatives and one at his Costa Mesa apartment complex, Brown told City News Service's Paul Anderson. Each boy was under 14 at the time of their attack, which happened between March 1995 and January 2012, the prosecutor said.
Christopher Bryan McKenzie Guilty of Molesting 5 Boys, Most of Whom He Met at Churches | OC Weekly
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