U.S. Department of the Treasury

(Archived Content)

FROM THE OFFICE OF PUBLIC AFFAIRS

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- A Yorktown, Indiana man pleaded guilty today to setting 26 churches on fire in eight states between 1994 and 1999, the Justice Department announced.

Jay Scott Ballinger, 38, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in Indianapolis to 29 criminal counts contained in ten separate indictments and informations that were unsealed today. Specifically, Ballinger pleaded guilty to one count of conspiring to burn a church, six counts of burning a building in interstate commerce, 20 counts of damaging a religious property and two counts of using fire to commit a federal felony. [ A list of the charges is attached.]

Todays plea follows a nationwide investigation conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, investigators from the Indiana State Fire Marshals Office, numerous state and local fire investigators around the United States , and the National Church Arson Task Force (NCATF).

The rampage that resulted from the destructive acts of this one individual has ended, said Bill Lann Lee, Acting Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights, and Co-Chair of the NCATF. These crimes will not be tolerated, and the federal government remains steadfast in our cooperative efforts to prosecute each and every one of these incidents to the fullest extent of the law.

Todays plea represents the largest number of fires charged to any single defendant since President Clinton formed the NCATF, said James E. Johnson, Treasury Under Secretary for Enforcement, and Co-Chair of the NCATF. This case demonstrates the impact of our collaborative efforts. With more than 900 church fires investigated since 1996, the NCATF success rate is more than double the national solve rate for all arsons. The investigators, prosecutors, and state and local authorities should be commended for their efforts.

The dots were connected in this case due to timely communication between state and federal agencies. And the picture came into focus thanks to the cooperation of law enforcement agencies at all levels across the country, said Timothy M. Morrison, United States Attorney in Indianapolis.

With the exception of the church arsons occurring in the Southern District of Indiana, all of the other cases were previously filed in their respective districts. The cases were then transferred to the Southern District of Indiana based on an agreement that Ballinger would plead guilty to all charges at a hearing scheduled in the Southern District of Indiana.

According to the plea agreement unsealed today, the Justice Department will recommend that Ballinger be sentenced to more than 42 years in prison.

Ballinger still faces federal charges in the Northern and Middle Districts of Georgia for setting five church fires in Georgia in December 1998 and January 1999, including one in which a firefighter was killed while on duty. Ballinger will be transported to Georgia to face the charges there following his sentencing in Indiana. Todays guilty plea in Indianapolis covers all other federal charges currently pending against Ballinger.

According to the plea agreement, Ballinger grew up in the Yorktown, Indiana area and traveled extensively throughout the country during his adult life, studying and practicing his religious beliefs as a Luciferian. He frequently expressed his hostility toward organized Christianity, signed individuals he met to contracts with the devil, and termed himself a missionary of Lucifer. In late 1993, Ballinger began traveling with an 18-year-old woman named Angela Wood. While living in motels with Ballinger, Wood obtained short term employment as a nightclub dancer at various locations to pay their living expenses. Wood also assisted Ballinger in setting many of the church fires, primarily acting as a lookout so that Ballinger would not be spotted setting the fires.

According to the papers, most of the fires Ballinger set were started late at night or early in the morning at isolated rural churches. On most occasions, Ballinger broke a window at the side or back of the church, poured a flammable mixture (usually gasoline) into the church, set the flammable mixture on fire with a lighter, then left the area.

The first church arson committed by Ballinger and Wood was at the Concord Church of Christ, Lebanon, Indiana on January 10, 1994. The church was an approximately 100 year old white frame church which was depicted in the opening scene of the movie Hoosiers.

Angela Wood pleaded guilty in November 1999 to one count of conspiracy to commit arson and church arson, one count of arson of a building in interstate commerce, four counts of church arson and one count of use of fire to commit a federal felony. Wood is cooperating with the government in the cases against Ballinger and will be sentenced by Judge Barker following the completion of Ballingers cases in the Southern District of Indiana.

In a related case, Donald Puckett of Lebanon, Indiana, pled guilty and was sentenced in September 1999 to an arson charge for assisting Ballinger and Wood in setting the Concord Church of Christ Fire in January 1999. Puckett is currently serving a 27-month sentence of imprisonment for his conviction, and is cooperating with the government.

Ballinger is currently detained in the Marion County Jail in Indianapolis pending sentencing in these cases. United States District Court Judge Sarah Evans Barker will set a sentencing date within 70 days.

The National Church Arson Task Force was established by President Clinton in June 1996 and continues to investigate arsons at houses of worship. The NCATF represents a coordinated effort of local, state and federal agencies, led by the Departments of Justice and Treasury, to investigate and prosecute arson attacks on houses of worship, as well as assist communities in the wake of fires. The other federal agencies include HUD, the FBI, the ATF, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), and the Community Relations Service.

As reported in the Third Year Report of the NCATF, released in January, the Task Force had opened investigations into 827 arsons, bombings and attempted bombings that occurred at houses of worship between January 1, 1995 and October 5, 1999. Federal, state and local authorities have arrested 364 suspects in connection with 294 incidents. The NCATF's 35.6% arrest rate is more than double the rate of arson arrests nationwide.