Nobody in Courtroom 12 today disputed that Chad Rolf suffers from mental illness.

Except, maybe, Chad Rolf.

Lancaster County Judge David Ashworth sentenced Rolf, 31, to 3½ to 10 years in state prison for setting fire to the office building of an Ephrata church in 2006.

Rolf confessed to police about an hour after the fire, after showing up at the Ephrata Borough Police Station, acting agitated and saying that people were trying to kill him.

Today, Rolf said he was sorry for the pain caused by the fire, which caused $463,000 in damage to the Holy Trinity Lutheran Church office and injured a firefighter.

But Rolf, who was found guilty by a jury in September of arson and other charges, adamantly has maintained his innocence. He admitted nothing today as well, because he wants to preserve his appeal rights after his trial.

Ashworth said everyone is sorry for the pain caused by the fire. But an "amorphous apology for non-events" is a different thing than Rolf taking responsibility for his actions, the judge said.

You are free to say whatever you want, the judge told Rolf. Then he asked him if he had anything else to say.

"There's nothing else, sir," Rolf said.

In his remarks to the judge, 1st Assistant District Attorney Christopher Larsen said that Rolf had refused to admit he has a mental illness.

The judge agreed.

In sentencing him, Ashworth told Rolf, "You have failed to recognize and accept the fact that you have serious mental health issues."

Ashworth said he made the sentence long to ensure that the community is protected from potentially violent acts by Rolf and also that Rolf gets help.

"I want you to get the help you need in an environment where you can't run away," Ashworth said.

Ashworth turned down a request from Rolf's defense attorney, Matthew Bomberger, for early parole. Rolf will serve at least 3½ years but also will be followed by the parole system for up to 10 years, the judge said. If he doesn't continue to get treatment, he will end up back in prison.

Rolf will receive credit for the more than two years he already has spent in Lancaster County Prison.

"If you want the liberty, you have to work for it," Ashworth told Rolf.

Rolf, a lanky man dressed in a white shirt and khaki pants, looked noticeably different than his booking photo, in which he appeared disheveled and somewhat disoriented.

Bomberger said Rolf has been receiving psychiatric treatment at the county prison and has been doing well.

His mother wrote a letter asking for leniency in the case and she and Rolf's two sisters were in the courtroom to support him, but did not speak.

The Rev. Henry Herbener of Holy Trinity also was in the courtroom. He told Ashworth the church was not asking for restitution.

"We're here not after a pound of flesh," Herbener said. "We're after healing and the safety of the community."

However, Ashworth did order Rolf to make restitution to the church and to the firefighter, who had about $11,000 in medical bills.

Bomberger said Rolf likes the minister and did not wish pain on him, his church or the firefighter.

"His actions on the night in question were very aberrant," Bomberger said. "He was a very confused person at that time."

The church building was set on fire at about 2:30 a.m. Sept. 25, 2006.

Rolf went to the Ephrata Police Station about an hour after the fire began, police said.

Police and firefighters were still at the church when Rolf called dispatchers from outside the station.

He said that 10 people were after him and trying to kill him.

Ephrata Police Chief Steve Annibali and other officers left the scene of the fire and went to the station. They tried to calm Rolf, taking him into the station's lobby for a cup of coffee.

But Rolf grew increasingly agitated and then suddenly buried his head in his hands and said, "I think I burnt down my church."

Rolf smelled strongly of gasoline and had burn marks on his pants, police said.

Rolf, who had been living in a van at the time, was not a member of the church but had gone there for help on several occasions, including just before the fire.

The fire began in the first floor of the office area, where a reclining chair was ignited with gasoline.

The first floor was gutted by the fire and the second floor was heavily damaged by smoke and water.

Investigators found ransacked drawers and scattered files inside the burned building.

The church sanctuary was spared from the fire.

The damages were covered by insurance. The church has not yet repaired the building, but is still deciding how it wants to rebuild its offices, Herbener said before the sentencing.


Staff writer Cindy Stauffer can be reached at cstauffer@LNPnews.com or 481-6024.