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	Sentence Cut for Preacher Who Abused Girl By Patricio G. Balona News-Journal March 21, 2008 http://www.news-journalonline.com/NewsJournalOnline/News/Local/newWEST01032108.htm DELAND -- A self-proclaimed Internet minister who used Biblical teachings to justify sexually abusing a girl had a 30-year prison sentence reduced to 9 1/2 years Thursday. With credit for more than 2 1/2 years he has already served, Charles Balfe stands to get out in just under seven years. But Balfe, 63, was expecting to get less time, his attorney Jeffrey Dees said. "He was hoping for a lesser sentence. He still maintains he did not commit the crime," Dees said. "But he is a lot happier with the sentence." Balfe was sentenced to 30 years in May 2006 after a jury of three men and three women found him guilty of two counts of sexual battery on a child older than 12 but younger than 18. In meting out the original sentence, Circuit Judge James R. Clayton noted that Balfe justified his acts by perverting Biblical teachings. The long prison term, 14 years more than recommended under state sentencing guidelines, was further justified by Balfe's lack of remorse for the attacks on a girl who was forced to live in a virtual concentration camp, Clayton said. Last October, the 5th District Court of Appeal upheld Balfe's conviction but tossed out his 30-year sentence and ordered a new sentencing. The appellate court based its ruling on the fact Balfe committed the crime in 1993, before the criminal code was changed in 1998, prosecutor Tammy Jaques said. Under old guidelines, Balfe faced a maximum sentence of 10 1/2 years. In the new sentence Thursday morning, Clayton gave Balfe 9 1/2 years because the prosecutor asked for a year of probation, Dees said. Balfe will also receive credit for 1 1/2 years spent in the Volusia County Branch Jail and approximately 17 months served in state prison, Dees said. DeLand police arrested Balfe in April 2005. At his trial, witnesses described his use of physical violence, death threats, Bible lectures and extreme discipline to keep children quiet about his sexual attacks. He beat the children with walking sticks and shoes and stomped on them when they fell to the floor, witnesses said. Balfe sought relationships with single women with children, prosecutors said. At the trial, the victim who was by then 21 testified that Balfe used the story of Lot in the book of Genesis to convince her to have sexual intercourse with him when she was 15. In the Bible story, two daughters confined to a cave with their father gave him wine and slept with him. The victim said Balfe started sexual contact with her when she was 13. On Thursday, the victim again testified that Balfe sexually abused her for five years. "He is inherently mendacious and has no remorse for molesting children," the woman said. Balfe's 9 1/2 -year prison term will be followed by one year of probation. Conditions of his probation include designation as a sexual predator, submitting to a sex offender evaluation, not residing within 1,000 feet of a church, playground, school or any establishment that serves children, and following a curfew from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. "Having him designated as a sexual predator means we can have his information online and so protect the community," Jaques said after the sentencing. "He will not be able to start a relationship with a single woman who has children." Contact: patricio.balona@news-jrnl.com
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