'I Knew It Was Wrong': Ex-Christian Radio Host Admits to Raping Boy

Fired Michigan Christian radio host John Richard Balyo admitted Tuesday that he knew it was wrong when he and another man handcuffed a 12-year-old boy to a Kalamazoo County motel bed, raped him and took photos of him in April.

The disturbing revelations by the 34-year-old former WCSG radio host were made in U.S. District court in Grand Rapids, where Balyo pleaded guilty to sexual exploitation of a child and possession of child pornography, the Detroit Free Press reports.

In exchange for the plea deal – does not affect state charges of first- and second-degree criminal sexual conduct – Balyo agreed to testify against Ronald Lee Moser, 41, of Battle Creek, who allegedly arranged for the April 19 encounter through a web site that offered to connect “people in or around Michigan that r in to kids,’’ according to federal court records.

Moser, whose user name was “JAYBOY33,” is scheduled to appear in federal court in Grand Rapids on Aug. 18. The evidence against him includes an online profile that contained seven albums, some of them titled “”sweet body,’’ “sexy boys,’’ “very cute boy’’ and “sweet young.’’

Moser admitted to taking sexually explicit images of a 12-year-old boy shown lying face down on the bed with his hands and feet bound and his buttocks exposed for about a month, according to court records.

Moser accompanied Balyo to the motel bondage took place in April and participated in what Assistant U.S. Attorney Tessa Hessmiller characterized as “sadistic and masochistic” bondage, MLive/the Grand Rapids Press reports.

The victim’s family reportedly wept from the rear of U.S. Magistrate Judge Ellen Carmody’s courtroom in Grand Rapids as Balyo admitted his part in handcuffing the youth’s hands and feet and tying him to the bed before photographing him in bondage positions in his underwear and completely nude.

“I did take images of a child and they were sexually explicit involving bondage and nudity,’’ Balyo said during Tuesday’s court proceedings. “I performed sex acts as described. I knew it was wrong.’’

As part of the agreement with the government, Balyo also will not face additional federal charges as the investigation continues, and the federal prosecutors said they wouldn’t oppose his request for a reduced sentence when he is sentenced in November.

Balyo will spend at least 15 years and could spend up to 50 years in prison on the two charges he admitted to on Tuesday.

If he’s convicted of the state charges of first- and second-degree criminal sexual conduct, charges that are unrelated to Tuesday’s pleading, he could spend the rest of his life behind bars. Those charges stem from alleged sexual conduct with an 11-year-old from Battle Creek. First-degree criminal sexual conduct carries a mandatory life sentence.

Prosecutors in Kalamazoo County, where the allegations in the federal court proceeding took place, could also file state charges against Balyo.

Balyo of Caledonia was arrested last month at a Big Ticket Christian music festival in Gaylord. A subsequent search of a storage unit he had rentedrevealed a bondage kit that contained duct tape, handcuffs, rope, zip-ties and chains.

Until his arrest, Balyo was an on-air host for WCSG, part of Cornerstone University’s ministry outreach program, for eight years.

Cornerstone University requires its students, faculty, staff and administration to sign a “lifestyle statement” that they will “avoid every form of immorality, including immoral sexual behavior, homosexuality, lying, stealing and cheating.”

After Balyo’s arrest, WCSG General Manager Chris Lemke addressed the situation on air, according to WZZM-TV.

“We sincerely grieve over these recent events,” Lemke said. “Our family is deeply aching, and we know that you may be hurting as well. Over the next few weeks, we request that you pray in earnest for John, his family, our team here at WCSG and, most certainly, please pray for the victims related in these allegations.”