Church volunteer appeals conviction for sex abuse of boys

A Costa Mesa church volunteer who was sentenced to a lengthy prison term for sexually abusing young boys has appealed his conviction, according to court documents.

Christopher Bryan McKenzie, 51, is serving 60 years to life in prison after a jury found him guilty of 20 felonies related to child pornography and accusations that he molested five boys and tried to abuse a sixth.

McKenzie’s public defender, Darren Thompson, filed a notice of appeal last week in Orange County Superior Court, where records will be compiled and forwarded to the state 4th District Court of Appeal for review. McKenzie has asked the appeals court to appoint a public defender to represent him during the appellate process, according to court documents.

Thompson, who was appointed by the Superior Court to represent McKenzie at trial, did not return a call seeking comment Wednesday afternoon.

During McKenzie’s 13-day trial in June, prosecutors told jurors that he met victims through his job as a pool cleaner and his positions as a child care volunteer at Rock Harbor church in Costa Mesa and Christ Church by the Sea in Newport Beach.

Victims testified that McKenzie touched them inappropriately after convincing them to pose nude for photos by telling them he had an artist friend who needed a new model for sculptures.

At McKenzie’s sentencing Sept. 4, Thompson asked Judge Patrick Donahue to impose a prison term that would give McKenzie a legitimate chance of being paroled.

Thompson argued that a more lenient sentence was appropriate, partly because McKenzie had no other criminal record and that the crimes he had been convicted of were not violent.

Donahue imposed a sentence that he said would ensure McKenzie couldn’t hurt anyone else.