Bill Halle

Former Butler school board member William “Bill” Halle was charged Tuesday, May 30, with the sexual assault of a 17-year-old who he employed and counseled at Net Outreach Center in Butler.

Halle, 58, is charged by city police with four felonies, including sexual assault by a volunteer or employee of a nonprofit, corruption of minors, criminal use of communication facility and criminal solicitation.

“The charges are related to an ongoing investigation into incidents related to a child. It is alleged that Halle had an intimate relationship with the minor and that Halle sent several text messages which were sexual in nature,” Chief Bob O’Neill of the Butler City Police Department said in a news release.

Halle is expected to be arraigned this week.

The 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.

According to charging documents, a ChildLine report was filed May 1 stating Halle was seen being intimate with the 17-year-old while sitting on a street curb near the minor’s home in Butler Township.

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

In the May 1 report, it was determined that Halle had employed and counseled the 17-year-old through Net Outreach Center at 100 Center Ave.

Net Outreach is connected to Grace Youth and Family Foundation, which Halle founded in 1994. A May 1 Facebook post by the organization said it would be closed for the summer.

The Center Avenue address is listed as Halle’s home address in police documents.

During the investigation, police said the minor’s father discovered text messages between Halle and the child that were sexual in nature.

On May 2, an interview with the minor was held at Children’s Advocacy Center of Butler County. Police said the minor disclosed having sexual intercourse with Halle at the Center Avenue address.

A forensic analysis of the minor’s phone done during the investigation found text messages that described various sexual acts, according to the affidavit.

Police said in one text from Halle to the minor, Halle said he “crossed the line.”

Additional text message and email drafts from Halle were discovered by officers on the minor’s phone. Police said Halle allegedly showed these drafts, which explained why he should spend more time with the minor, to the child before sending them to the minor’s mother.

The April 28 order prohibits Halle from having any contact with the minor, bans him from the plaintiff’s home and prohibits him from abusing, harassing, stalking or threatening the plaintiff and posting any remarks or images of the minor on any social media website or network.

According to the indirect criminal contempt complaint, a Facebook post by Halle on May 1 was a violation of the protection order.

“I want to thank everyone who has tried to call, text, message, etc., with words of encouragement and support for me. However, I covet your prayers first for the young woman involved,” Halle said at the end of the post.

Court hearings regarding the violation of the temporary sexual violence protection order against Halle were continued on May 9. A new hearing date is scheduled for 10:30 a.m. June 20.

Halle resigned April 30 from the Butler school board, as well as the boards of the Butler County Area Vocational-Technical School and the Midwestern Intermediate Unit IV.

As of Tuesday, May 30, Halle’s preliminary hearing has not been scheduled.

Halle was not available by phone for comment.