A 17-year-old girl refused to testify against former Butler school board member William “Bill” Halle at his preliminary hearing on Monday, July 10, because she sees Halle as a “good friend" and doesn’t want to see him charged, according to her attorney.

Sexual assault charges against Halle were held for Common Pleas Court at a preliminary hearing before District Judge William Fullerton. Halle is charged with having intimate contact with the girl, who was found in contempt of court for her refusal to testify.

Halle, 58, was charged May 30 by city police for alleged intimate contact with the girl, which he employed and counseled at Net Outreach Center in Butler. Net Outreach is connected to Grace Youth and Family Foundation, which Halle founded in 1994.

Halle is charged with felonies sexual assault by a volunteer or employee of a nonprofit, corruption of minors, criminal use of a communication facility, and unlawful contact with a minor.

Halle appeared in court with his attorney, Kelvin Morris, and both heard the investigating officer read alleged text messages between Halle and the girl. The texts elicited expressions of disgust on the faces of some people attending the hearing.

The hearing began with Assistant District Attorney Laura Pitchford calling the girl to testify, but her attorney, Armand Cingolani, said she would not answer any questions.

The girl sat on the stand with her arms crossed and would not answer Pitchford when asked if she had a sexual relationship with Halle.

Fullerton directed the girl to answer, saying she risked being found in contempt, but she continued to sit silently.

Fullerton left the bench and returned a few minutes later saying that his court does not have jurisdiction to detain the girl since she is a juvenile.

“I refuse to incriminate myself or others,” the girl said.

Pitchford advised the girl that she would not be charged with any crime should she answer the questions, and the girl still refused to answer.

Fullerton found her in contempt, and the girl left the courtroom.

In a later interview with the Eagle, Cingolani said the girl asked for his counsel because she didn’t want to participate in court proceedings and doesn’t want Halle to be charged.

“In this case, they wanted to use her for a conviction,” he said. “I don’t know what happened (between her and Halle); I wasn’t there. But she likes him and doesn’t want him prosecuted.”

He added that the girl sought counsel to stand up for herself. “She’s a brave girl with a very good character,” Cingolani said.

The initial charges were filed nearly one month after Butler County Common Pleas Judge S. Michael Yeager issued a temporary sexual violence protection order that claimed Halle had a sexual relationship with the minor.

Eric Klopfer, the city detective investigating the case, testified to the girl being subject to a forensic interview about the alleged encounters with Halle.

According to previous reports, the girl’s forensic interview was conducted May 2 at the Child Advocacy Center, one day after the initial ChildLine report was made.

The original report stated Halle was seen being intimate with the girl while sitting on a street curb near her home in Butler Township, police said.

The incident occurred around 8:30 p.m. April 27, and Butler Township police responded.

Morris objected to Klopfer testifying about the forensic interview, saying it was hearsay. Fullerton replied that he wanted to hear the commonwealth’s other evidence before making a ruling on the objection.

Being permitted to answer the question, Klopfer said the girl told interviewers she had sexual relations with Halle on two occasions.

Previous reports showed that a forensic analysis of the girl’s phone was conducted and text messages between Halle and the girl were found, according to an affidavit.

Pitchford then selected a few text messages of the more than 600 that allegedly were between Halle and the girl. Klopfer confirmed that the contact information from the text messages were consistent with Halle’s phone number.

Pitchford then asked Klopfer to read a few messages for the court. Many people in the courtroom appeared shocked as the messages were read, each describing explicit sexual acts.

Pitchford also presented an email, allegedly from Halle, as evidence. In the email, Halle admits to having consensual sexual relations with the girl, Klopfer testified.

Police reports had shown additional email drafts from Halle were discovered on the girl’s phone. Police said Halle allegedly showed these drafts, which explained why he should spend more time with the minor, to the girl before sending them to her mother.

At the conclusion of testimony, Fullerton said the commonwealth had established its case, and he would be moving all charges to Common Pleas Court.

Halle is scheduled to appear for formal arraignment Aug. 29.