Indiana man pleads guilty to setting 26 church fires in 8 states

July 11, 2000
Web posted at: 8:56 p.m. EDT (0056 GMT)

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- An Indiana man who called himself a missionary of Lucifer and acknowledged a deep hostility to organized Christianity pleaded guilty Tuesday to setting 26 church fires in eight states.

Under a plea agreement unsealed in Indianapolis, Jay Scott Ballinger, 38, of Yorktown, Indiana, faces a government recommendation of more than 42 years in prison, Justice and Treasury officials said.

Ballinger pleaded guilty in federal court to 29 criminal counts, including one count of conspiring to burn a church, two counts of using fire to commit a felony, six counts of burning a building in interstate commerce, and 20 counts of damaging religious property, officials said.

Authorities said Ballinger's plea covered church fires in Indiana, Tennessee, Kentucky, Missouri, South Carolina, Alabama, Ohio and California.

Ballinger still faces charges in Georgia for setting five church fires, including one in which a firefighter was killed. Following his Indiana sentencing within the next 70 days, Ballinger will be transported to Georgia where he will face the additional charges.

"The rampage that resulted from the destructive acts of this one individual has ended," said Acting Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights Bill Lann Lee. Lee is co-chairman of the National Church Arson Task Force.

The other Task Force co-chairman, Treasury Undersecretary James Johnson, said the plea represents the largest number of fires charged to any single defendant since the task force was established in 1996.

Officials said Ballinger traveled extensively, studying and practicing his religious beliefs as a Luciferian and signing individuals he met to contracts with the devil.

According to the plea agreement, Angela Wood, 18, who traveled with Ballinger, supported their travels by working as a nightclub dancer. She helped Ballinger by acting as a lookout at the scenes of the church arsons.

Wood pleaded guilty last November to seven criminal counts and is cooperating with the government in the cases against Ballinger.

Ballinger usually broke a church window, poured gasoline into the structure, set the fire with a lighter and left the area, authorities said.

Another cooperating witness, Donald Puckett of Lebanon, Indiana, was sentenced last September for helping Ballinger and Wood set fire to the historic Concord Church of Christ in Lebanon in 1994. That was the first blaze set by Ballinger, the government said.

The 100-year old white frame church in Lebanon was depicted in the opening scene of the movie "Hoosiers."

Meanwhile, the National Church Arson Task Force announced it has opened investigations into 827 arsons, bombings and attempted bombings that occurred in houses of worship from 1995 to 1999.

As a result, 364 suspects have been arrested in connection with 294 of the incidents. Officials said the 35 percent arrest rate is more than double the rate of arson arrests nationwide.

CNN Producer Terry Frieden contributed to this report.

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U.S. Department of Justice

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