Halle to serve 60 days in jail, house arrest
William “Bill” Halle was sentenced Wednesday, Oct. 25, to 60 days in jail and house arrest, two days after he saw his bond modified for violating the no-contact condition regarding a teenage girl, officials said.
A former member of the Butler Area School District board, Halle is accused of having intimate contact with a 17-year-old girl who he employed and counseled at the Net Outreach Center in Butler.
Halle, 59, was jailed Wednesday, Oct. 18, for the alleged violation.
Halle initially was placed on probation in June after violating a sexual violence protection order filed against him in April. The order was followed by criminal charges filed in May, in which city police accused Halle of having intimate contact with the girl, who is now 18.
No-contact order provisions were put in place for both the civil and criminal case related to the allegations.
Wednesday’s hearing before Judge William Robinson was in connection to the civil case. In relation to the April case, Halle was found guilty of indirect criminal contempt in June and sentenced to six months parole for that violation.
A tip about a camper at Kalyumet Campground in Clarion County prompted an investigation by law enforcement. The site reportedly was assigned to the teen in the criminal case.
In recent court testimony, Sandra Kaltenbach, general manager at Kalyumet, said Halle asked how to acquire a seasonal site on Sept. 6, and the site contract was signed by the girl, in person, on Sept. 12.
Kaltenbach added that she saw Halle and the girl at the campsite on separate occasions.
One condition of Halle’s parole was that he could not leave Butler County without permission and was forbidden from any contact with the girl.
“We sit here because you violated an order of the court, not once, but twice,” Robinson said prior to sentencing.
Following a brief testimony from Halle’s probation officer, Robinson revoked parole, and resentenced Halle to 60 days of incarceration, and then paroled to house arrest with electronic monitoring.
Defense attorney Thomas McKinley said his client was willing to admit to contacting the teen and violating the parole conditions placed on him in June.
Probation officer Chad Karenbauer also testified at a hearing Monday in regard to the violation of pretrial supervision on his criminal charges, saying Halle disclosed having contact with the girl in person and by phone.
“He said he lost a lot with his (criminal) cases … a lot of family contacts, and that the girl is his support right now,” he said.
During Wednesday’s hearing, McKinley asked that his client be placed on house arrest with electronic monitoring, given that prior to the parole violation, he’d been compliant with the court’s original sentence.
Laura Pitchford, assistant district attorney, countered that Halle had been “doing his own thing” and “thumbing his nose” at the court.
Robinson said it is the court’s job to protect the teen.
“You have allowed your human emotion to distort and cloud your judgment,” he said to Halle. “Violating two orders of court is not like baseball. You don’t get three strikes … I gave you a chance. I gave you six months, parole immediately.”
Robinson then revoked Halle’s parole and sentenced him to 60 days of incarceration, and then paroled to house arrest with electronic monitoring.
Halle was also forbidden to use the phone at Butler County Prison except to talk with his attorney or bail bond companies.
Following the testimony of four witnesses Monday, Common Pleas Judge Timothy McCune changed Halle’s unsecured bond to a cash surety bond of $100,000 with additional conditions that he could use the jail phone only for contact with his lawyer. He remains in Butler County Prison.
