Christian Radio Host John Balyo Gets 40 Years For Sexual Assault On Young Boy

At his sentencing Thursday, Dec. 11, child sex predator and former Christian radio host for WCSG, John Balyo, begged the Honorable Robert Holmes Bell for a chance at living a normal life someday after committing sexual assault on a young boy.

Thirty-five-year-old Balyo may get his wish, but not until he’s 75 at the earliest. For all intents and purposes, Balyo’s been handed prison for the rest of his natural-born life, and good riddance to him.

Alarmingly, Balyo claims he never confronted the ?depravity? of his pedophilia habit, and a habit it was. Not only did he, along with another man, assault a 12-year-old boy in a hotel room, he also was busted for being in possession of a storage unit full of child pornography and bondage gear. That’s quite a large habit, but apparently not one big enough to give one pause enough to wonder if a dark habit may have formed somewhere along the line. It’s even harder to believe raping a young boy with another man in a hotel room wouldn’t make one acknowledge, at least briefly, that one has a problem of some sort. Denial can be a dangerous wall shielding reality, it seems.

That, or it’s just that old clich? of only being sorry once you’re caught. I’ll give you a guess where I’d put my money on that wager.

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(Image courtesy of gannett-cdn.com)

Balyo stated to Judge Bell during sentencing:

?Your honor, I’m standing humbly before you today really pleading for the opportunity, the chance, to have a life someday. I will not be a danger to society. I will not be in trouble again.?

Oh? The public is to believe that child rape thing was just a one-time impulse that went too far? Unlikely. And what a cowardly, disrespectful request to raise before the victim’s family, as if that boy will ever be free from the psychological and emotional prison Balyo put him in for the rest of his life.

Of course, the judge saw right through that.

Bell stated to Balyo that the depths of his crimes and depravity are difficult to comprehend ? the sheer conflicted nature of being a Christian radio host, a community youth volunteer and volunteer with the Kent County Sheriff’s Department, all the while facing evidence that places him in at least two hotel rooms in Battle Creek and Kalamazoo, Mich., where he an accomplice raped a bound young boy, not to mention the storage locker filled with child porn, bondage equipment, as already stated, and an anatomically correct child-sized mannequined Balyo kept locked and chained up in a dog crate.

Disturbing, wouldn’t you say? Yet Balyo says he never realized his actions were depraved until busted. Sure, sure.

Judge Bell stated:

?I’m trying to figure out which one I’m sitting in front of right now.?

Bell also encouraged Balyo to “peel back the layers of your own heart and your own soul? during his lengthy stay in prison. No doubt he’ll have even more to think about after being pummeled and sexually assaulted, himself, in those 40 years. It’s no secret what happens to pedophiles in prison.

Assistant U.S. Attorney, prosecutor Tessa Hessmiller stated to Judge Bell:

?Mr. Balyo is basically a wolf in sheep’s clothing, which makes him incredibly dangerous because people don’t see him coming. . . . Of course, his family was as surprised as anyone to learn of the double life.?

Hessmiller also provided the court with pictures of Balyo raping the boy, which Balyo tried to hide. Investigators eventually found those photos, however.

What’s even more disturbing and odd, if the Balyo case could get any more of either, especially to Balyho’s new wife, is that his encounters with the boy in the hotel rooms took place April 25, just prior and following his marriage. It appears Balyo met fellow pedophile Ronald Moser, of Battle Creek, online. Moser had brazenly posted online:

?Looking for people in or around michigan that r in to kids.? [sic]

Balyo responded:

?Yeah! Saw your album and requested for anyone from Michigan into kids. 🙂 I am that person! Lol.?

That’s all according to the records, now. Balyo was arrested eight months later.

As is unfortunately common in such cases, Moser was a close friend of the victim’s family. The boy continues to suffer terribly, as one could imagine, and become frightened whenever he is left alone. As a result, the mother has had trouble going to work and providing for her family. She is, of course, furious and in mourning, stating that Moser stole her son’s childhood and innocence from him. He’s also, certainly left many permanent scars in place.

Luckily, Moser faces his own sentencing next week.

The mother has also stated that her son ?should not have to live in fear? of either of the men being released from prison, ever.

The victim’s family stated:

?There are no words that excuse hurting a child like that, none.?

It is also the family’s belief that Balyo would have eventually graduated to full-fledged child murderer, and judging by the chained mannequin in a dog cage bit, that’s not too far-fetched to believe. Clearly he has no regard for the lives of children.

Supporting the family’s theory, however, is even more disturbing news.

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(Image courtesy of christianpost.com)

Hessmiller stated that authorities are in possession of photographs showing Balyo masturbating while pointing a gun at the chained boy mannequin in the dog cage. He’s also shown in further pictures rolling the mannequin up like a dead body in carpeting, or a tarp. Yikes!

U.S. Attorney Patrick Miles Jr. stated after the sentencing:

?We just don’t know. It’s speculative whether or not he was just fantasizing or role-playing. Clearly, based on the images, he had some disturbing thoughts.?

You could sure say that with a straight face.

According Homeland Security Investigations agent Kenneth Dukes, the agency has scoured the area, including locations where Balyo has taken mission trips, looking for potential additional victims. So far, none have surfaced, but Dukes makes clear that doesn’t necessarily mean there are not more out there.

Fortunately, if the community at large is lucky, it appears that Balyo may have only just begun diving into the depths of his depravity and was caught only eight months into what could have been a lifetime of sexual assault against young boys.

In the midst of all this, there is some contention between the prosecution and defense as to whether or not Balyo was quick or slow to admit his guilt ? a small point, really, but perhaps one that indicates his genuine level of remorse, whether great or small. Prosecutors say he was slow to admit much of anything; whereas, defense states that Balyo was open and helpful in the case early on, and that he’d also plead guilty to avoid a lengthy trial, wishing to spare the victim’s family any more turmoil. It couldn’t possibly have been to save himself the shame of it all. Nah, that wouldn’t be it, would it?

Defense attorney David Dodge stated that Balyo wished to ?alleviate the suffering? for the family, adding that it would ?have the potential of being basically a spectacle? if the case went to trial ? as if the details already out there about Balyo haven’t created a spectacle already.

Dodge also stated, awkwardly, to be sure, that Balyo’s friends family and radio listeners have had to come to grips with some extremely disturbing changes in reality when thinking of the beloved radio personality. They are facing some ?very harsh realities.?

Balyo has already been sentenced to up to 50 years in a state prison for first-degree criminal sexual conduct, and his more recent 40 year federal sentence will run simultaneously.

Balyo’s attorney states that it is difficult for Balyo to find someone to talk to about his child pornography addiction, but that certainly didn’t seem the case for him online. Regardless, Balyo says he wants to get help, as well as help others suffering from the same compulsions as himself find treatment. Both Balyo and Dodge play at being oddly optimistic, stating Blayo’s ?prospects for his rehabilitation are excellent.?

Sure, it should be an easy success to avoid raping young boys while he’s stuck in prison. I predict success for Balyo, as well.

The Honorable Judge Bell grappled with the disparate, conflicting realities of Balyo. On one hand, Balyo is a well-educated man with a great job and a fantastic public reputation known for offering advice to the public from a Christian perspective, but on the other hand, he’s masturbating to anatomically correct, bound and caged boy mannequins while pointing guns to their head, then pretending he killed them. He’s raping bound, live, flesh and blood boys in hotel rooms with another man while volunteering for the local sheriff’s department. Those are the signs of a psychotic personality.

Bell stated:

?This was a repulsive act of adult sexual gratification on a very young boy. They had no choice. They really had no choice. Do you understand that??

Balyo had to admit at least that, stating simply:

?Yes.?

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H/T: mLive | Featured image: christianpost.com


Dylan HockDylan Hock is a poet, novelist, professor and social activist. He is published in a number of little magazines and has an essay on the muzzling of Ezra Pound included in the anthology Star Power: The Impact of Branded Celebrity. Currently, he also writes and edits for If You Only News, Addicting Info, Green Action News, and Take 10. Follow him on Ello, Google+, LinkedIn, RebelMouse and Goodreads. Hire him for freelance writing and editing work on Elance.