Former Christian Youth Theater worker pleads guilty to sex crime with teen girl

A former employee of the El-Cajon based Christian Youth Theater pleaded guilty Wednesday to committing lewd acts on a 13-year-old girl who was a student in the program.

David Hott, 39, is one of several former employees of the after-school theater program who has been accused in either criminal or civil proceedings of sexually abusing underage students.

Hott and former CYT employee Brad Christian Davis were charged by the San Diego County District Attorney’s Office in 2021, with Davis pleading guilty the following year to a sex crime involving a teenage girl. He was sentenced to two years of probation.

Prosecutors say Hott groped the girl in his car in early 2007 when he was around 20 years old.

The victim, now in her 30s, testified during a jury trial last year that Hott offered her a ride home from a dinner attended by other Christian Youth Theater employees and students, then pulled the car over and sexually abused her.

The charges against Hott pertained only to the incident in the car, but she testified that he touched her inappropriately on multiple occasions until she was 15 and sent her graphic, sexual text messages and voicemails.

Two alleged victim, both now adults, testified in the case on Wednesday, reports NBC 7’s Dana Williams.

Hott’s trial attorney, Stefano Molea, argued the victim’s descriptions of the events over the years were rife with inconsistencies, lacked any definitive evidence of the alleged acts, and that her civil claims against CYT played a role in her criminal allegations against Hott.

A downtown San Diego jury deadlocked 10-2 in favor of guilt.

Following Wednesday’s change of plea, Hott remains out of custody on $100,000 bail pending a May sentencing date, when he’s expected to be sentenced to credit for time served.

The criminal charges against Hott and Davis came about a year after a flood of allegations appeared on social media alleging sexual abuse by CYT employees.

Last year, nearly a dozen former theater students claimed they were abused and discriminated against by teachers during their time in the after-school program, reports NBC 7’s Priya Sridhar.

Protests soon followed, and Christian Youth Theater leadership later announced that several of the theater’s San Diego chapters would be shut down on an indefinite basis.

A civil lawsuit against the organization remains pending, which alleges sexual abuse by several different adults employed by CYT between 1991 and 2011 and accuses CYT leaders of concealing the abuse.