William “Bill” Halle

Former Butler School Board member William Halle was arrested and jailed in lieu of $250,000 bail Friday, March 8, on sexual assault and other charges similar to those dismissed by a judge in January.

Halle was already in jail, serving a six-month sentence in a related civil case.

District Attorney Richard Goldinger said Friday his office has a new witness to the crimes.

“The new witness provided information that we allege showed the victim was involved in a program when the relationship began, which would fill a loophole we had before,” Goldinger said.

Butler police on Friday charged Halle, 59, with felonies sexual assault by a volunteer or employee of a nonprofit, corruption of minors, criminal use of a communication facility and criminal solicitation, and misdemeanor corruption of minors.

In January, charges including felonies 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 by Common Pleas Court Judge Timothy McCune. Butler police arrested Halle on those charges on May 31 last year.

The criminal charges were dismissed, but 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.

Friday’s charges relate to the same incident the dismissed charges were based on involving a then-17-year-old girl who Halle counseled at his former nonprofit, Grace Youth and Family Foundation, and employed at the now-defunct Net Outreach Center he ran. The center, located at 100 Center Ave., housed the foundation.

On May 1, police received a ChildLine report from a county detective saying Butler Township police responded to a call from a concerned citizen around 8:30 p.m. April 29 reporting Halle and the girl were being intimate while sitting on a curb near her home, according to the affidavit.

City police said township police and the girl’s father found text messages of a sexual nature between Halle and the girl on the girl’s phone, according to the affidavit.

During a forensic interview May 2 at the county children’s advocacy center, the girl admitted to having intercourse with Halle at the center, and to sending the text messages, according to the affidavit.

A forensic analysis of the girl’s phone found multiple sexual messages sent by Halle. In one message Halle admits he “crossed the line with you,” according to the affidavit.

At a July preliminary hearing, the charges against Halle were held for court even though the girl refused to testify against him.

Halle was jailed in October for violating a no-contact order attached to a term of probation he was ordered to serve for violating a temporary sexual violence protection order the girl’s father obtained against Halle in April. He was sentenced to 60 days in county prison followed by house arrest for violating the no-contact order. The girl withdrew the protection order in September after she turned 18.

A preliminary hearing on the latest charges is scheduled for March 18 before District Judge William Fullerton in Butler.