W A S H I N G T O N, July 11, 2000 -- An Indiana man, who called himself a missionary of Lucifer, pleaded guilty to setting 26 churches on fire over a five-year period that ended in 1999, the Justice Department said today.

Jay Scott Ballinger entered his plea in federal court in Indianapolis, the department said in a release. It recommended that the 38-year-old Yorktown man be sentenced to more than 42 years in prison.

‘Missionary of Lucifer’The plea follows a nationwide investigation conducted by the FBI, the Treasury Department’s Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, the Indiana State Fire Marshal’s Office, state and local fire investigators around the country and the National Church Arson Task Force.

Ballinger “frequently expressed his hostility toward organized Christianity, signed individuals he met to contracts with the devil and termed himself a missionary of Lucifer,” according to the Justice Department’s release, which cited information contained in the plea agreement.

Ballinger pleaded guilty to setting fires at churches in Alabama, California, Indiana, Ohio, Kentucky, Missouri, South Carolina and Tennessee.

Nation’s Most Prolific Arsonist

Most of the fires were started late at night or early in the morning at isolated rural churches, the Justice Department said. On most occasions, Ballinger broke a window at the side or back of the church, poured gasoline into the church and set it on fire with a lighter, the department said.

Ballinger’s plea “represents the largest number of fires charged to any single defendant” since President Clinton formed the National Church Arson Task Force in June 1996, said James Johnson, Treasury’s undersecretary for enforcement and co-chair of the task force.