Criminal charges against Halle dismissed
A judge dismissed felony charges filed against former Butler school board member William “Bill” Halle on Friday, the same day Halle was ordered in civil court to serve the remainder of a six-month jail sentence imposed in October for violating a no-contact rule of his parole.
Both matters involve the same now-18-year-old woman, who was 17 last year when she and Halle began a relationship. She worked for him at the now-closed Net Outreach Center, which was connected to the Grace Youth and Family Foundation he founded.
Felony charges of sexual assault by a volunteer or employee of a nonprofit, corruption of minors, criminal use of a communication facility, unlawful contact with a minor and criminal solicitation were dismissed in an order issued by Judge Timothy McCune after he presided over a pretrial hearing on the matter Wednesday.
Reached for comment Friday evening, Butler County District Attorney Richard Goldinger said “we are considering our options.”
Judge William Robinson on Friday morning ordered Halle, 59, to serve the balance of the six-month jail sentence he imposed in October for violating no-contact rules of his parole. Halle, 59, has been incarcerated since then.
“To have a civil society, people must follow orders of the court, including you,” Robinson said to Halle at the conclusion of his parole violation hearing in the county Court of Common Pleas.
Halle was jailed for writing at least 20 letters from prison and for previously sending text messages to a young woman the judge ordered him not to contact.
Det. Eric Klopfer, of the Butler police department, read excerpts from text messages he said Halle sent to her, who was then 17 years old, in late March and early April. Klopfer said he took photos of the messages from the woman’s phone.
In the messages, Halle talks about taking her to an Easter service, his feelings for her, songs and a low-cut shirt she wore when they went to a Slippery Rock restaurant, and he says he loves her, according to Klopfer’s testimony.
Probation officer Chad Karenbauer said he filed a parole violation against Halle for sending letters to the woman from prison. He said he reviewed about 60 letters Halle addressed to a friend and to a couple but instead were intended for the woman. Prison officials intercepted the letters.
Karenbauer read excerpts from some of the 20 letters entered into evidence.
In one letter, Halle said he misses and loves the person it was written to and refers to the person as “TMBWITW,” an acronym that translates into The Most Beautiful Woman in the World, Karenbauer said.
In another letter, Halle reminisces about taking a ride in his truck and having dinner in Slippery Rock with the person to whom the letter was written.
One letter encourages the recipient to remain clean and sober, eat healthy foods and resist advances from other men. It also said God made the person just for him and he misses the person badly.
Another letter warns the person that their parents and other people would try to make the person dependent.
One letter mentions his desire to live with the person in a rural area “away from the negative people in our lives.”
Another letter discuses how he enjoyed the person’s modeling of newly purchased clothing and his desire to go together to a beach.
Halle recounts how he and a letter recipient “wore each other out” and then fell asleep while watching TV.
One letter hints about a sexual encounter in the parking lot of a restaurant.
Halle refers to the recipient as B.G. in several letters.
Under cross examination, Karenbauer said he confronted Halle about the letters and Halle said they were written to his best friend, who he refers to as Big Guy.
“I can’t unring the bell of prior violations,” Robinson said in explaining his decision.
He said it would be “quite a leap” for him to believe the letters were written to someone other than the now-18-year-old woman.
“I gave you two opportunities to stay away from the victim,” Robinson said.
He said strike one against Halle was a social media post he made in May referencing the woman, which violated a sexual violence protection order Robinson issued in April.
Strike two was staying with the woman at a camper in a Clarion County campground, and strike three was the letters Halle sent from prison, Robinson said.
