Church youth counselor molested girls as young as 6, CA officials say. He’s sentenced
A former church youth counselor has been sentenced after he was accused of molesting four girls, one as young as 6 years old, more than a decade ago, California prosecutors say.
Todd Christian Hartman, 41, of Newport Beach, was sentenced “to 120 years to life plus an additional four years and four months in prison,” the Orange County District Attorney’s Office said in a July 31 news release.
His sentencing comes after a jury found Hartman, who worked as a volunteer with Anaheim Vineyard Church, guilty of multiple felonies, including lewd or lascivious acts with a minor under the age of 14; oral copulation or sexual penetration of a child 10 years or younger; lewd act upon a child 14 or 15; and possession of child pornography.
Hartman’s attorney did not immediately respond to McClatchy News’ request for comment on Aug. 1.
Vineyard Church, which no longer seems to be in operation, could not be reached for comment.
“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,” Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer said in the release. “No child should have the innocence of childhood robbed from them by anyone, much less someone they were led to believe they could trust.”
Investigation launched
Investigation into Hartman began in 2014 when Newport Beach police received a tip about him possessing child pornography, court records obtained by City News Service show.
In February 2015, police and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security obtained a warrant to search the home Hartman shared with his mother “after tracing an IP address that had shared several child pornography images” to the home, prosecutors said.
“They recovered more than 400 videos and in excess of 300 still images containing child pornography,” the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement said in a news release. “Some of those videos featured children as young as 8 or 9.”
The youth counselor was indicted on child pornography charges in June 2015, the agency said.
Months later, a judge ruled Hartman’s rights were violated when he was interviewed by investigators, as they failed to advise him “of his Miranda rights to legal counsel and to remain silent before interviewing him during the search in February,” according to court documents obtained by the Daily Pilot.
The case was dismissed in January 2016, and Hartman was released from custody, records show.
Victim comes forward
With federal charges against him dropped, Hartman told a father to two girls he met through the church that he planned to visit, leading to one of the girls having a “meltdown” and telling her mother she had been molested by the man, Deputy District Attorney Scott Wooldridge said, City News Services reported.
Hartman contacted the father, admitting to molesting one of the girls when he worked as a volunteer with the children’s ministry starting when the girl was 6 years old, prosecutors said.
Hartman was convicted of molesting the girl, along with her younger sister, prosecutors said.
The jury also convicted Hartman “of molesting a 14-year-old and a 12-year-old girl,” prosecutors said.
Prosecutors alleged Hartman “groped and fondled their genitals repeatedly while they were at a 2009 sleepover at the Fullerton home of relatives of one of the girls.”
“Todd was someone in my life I was supposed to look up to, someone I was supposed to trust,” one of the women told the court, the Orange County Register reported. “Someone I trusted completely betrayed me and my family as well.”
Another woman addressed the court echoing the sentiment, the newspaper reported.
“The price for this man’s sexual gratification was paid for by innocent children,” one of the women told the judge, the newspaper reported. “If you give him the opportunity he will do it again.”
With the state’s elder parole law, which allows “convicted felons who are 50 years old or older and who have served at least 20 years of their sentence for parole,” Hartman may be eligible for parole in the future, prosecutors said.
This story was originally published August 1, 2024 at 10:19 AM with the headline "Church youth counselor molested girls as young as 6, CA officials say. He’s sentenced."
