Sex-abuse prosecutor: Church volunteer ‘handpicked these boys.’ Defense: ‘There’s reasonable doubt’

Attorneys concluded their arguments Tuesday in the case of a Costa Mesa Sunday school volunteer accused of sexually abusing a half-dozen boys and trying to lure another.

Jurors will decide whether they believe testimony from witnesses who over the past few weeks accused 51-year-old Christopher McKenzie of fondling or raping the boys.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Heather Brown told jurors that McKenzie is a wolf in sheep’s clothing, a man who hid behind a guise of religious piety that he cultivated at Rock Harbor church in Costa Mesa.

McKenzie met three of the boys at the church, where he helped in a fifth-grade classroom, according to the Orange County district attorney’s office.

“Mr. McKenzie handpicked these boys,” Brown said.

McKenzie could face life in prison if he is convicted of 20 felonies related to child pornography and sexual abuse that prosecutors allege occurred between 1996 and 2012.

McKenzie’s public defender, Darren Thompson, said in his closing arguments that the district attorney’s office had nothing other than witnesses’ statements to corroborate the accusations.

According to prosecutors, police said they found hundreds of pictures of child pornography on McKenzie’s computer, though photos of the kids he is accused of persuading to pose nude were not located.

“There’s reasonable doubt throughout this entire case,” Thompson said.

Brown argued that McKenzie had a chance to dump the evidence when one of the accusers confronted him days before the defendant’s arrest in 2012.

Tuesday’s closing arguments came about three weeks after the trial started in early June with testimony from a 20-year-old man who said McKenzie molested him dozens of times eight to 10 years ago.

Brown reminded jurors of many matching details of his and other witnesses’ accusations.

A common thread included the boys’ allegations that McKenzie befriended them before offering them money to pose nude for photos.

“It’s the exact same M.O., the exact same scheme,” Brown said.

According to prosecutors, McKenzie told the boys that he had an artist friend who needed a model for a sculpture. Once the boys were undressed, McKenzie would rub oil on their bodies, including their genitals, prosecutors said.

“You have a Sunday school teacher rubbing oil on boys’ genitals,” Brown said, claiming that McKenzie’s sexual intent was obvious.

Prosecutors also alleged that McKenzie used his job as a pool cleaner to lure victims. Multiple boys told police that McKenzie hired them to change underwater light bulbs and then insisted on helping them rinse chlorine off their naked bodies, authorities said.

“Why does the 10-, 11-, 12-year-old boy need help washing his genitals?” Brown said.

Thompson questioned why the boys didn’t contact police or simply refuse to interact with McKenzie anymore.

He noted one accuser who said he viewed McKenzie as a father figure despite the accusation that he was being abused from the time he was 8 until he was 16.

“The claim is this man is sodomizing you ... and you’re doing this because he’s the father you never had,” Thompson said. “Are you kidding me?”

Brown, too, told jurors that their decision rests on the accusers’ testimony.

“There is only one question you have in this case — do you believe these boys?” Brown said.