Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, June 24, 1995 TAG: 9506260064
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: LAURENCE HAMMACK STAFF WRITER NOTE: Below
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
The 16-year-old, who has a long criminal record that ranges from stealing mopeds to taking a gun to school, was sentenced Friday to an indeterminate term in a state-run ``learning center'' for delinquent youths.
Prosecutors have said the boy and his 11-year-old cousin set fire to the church, a cherished landmark in the Gainsboro neighborhood, the afternoon of April 22 just because they wanted to see something burn.
During a hearing in Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court, Judge John Ferguson was confronted with two arguments about how best to deal with the youth, who had failed to complete two nonsecure treatment programs before he was charged with arson.
Assistant Commonwealth's Attorney Joel Branscom asked that he be committed to the state, arguing that the best rehabilitative options for the 16-year-old were overridden by the threat to the community if he remaimed free.
Defense attorney Melvin Hill asked Ferguson to send his client to a semi-secure psychiatric facility in Richmond, where he would receive more treatment than is provided at state Department of Youth and Family Services learning centers.
Ferguson seemed to be giving that option serious consideration, asking at one point in the hearing, ``Do we send him into the den, or do we try one other semi-secure treatment effort, knowing this to be the last straw?''
But after reviewing court records that detailed the teen-ager's past crimes and his suspended commitments to the state, Ferguson announced his decision.
``Son, I'm afraid you've had your chances,'' he said. ``I've got to protect the community.''
Although Ferguson sent the youth to a state facility for an indeterminate sentence, court officials said he likely will serve between 15 and 18 months. The Department of Youth and Family Services will decide when he is suitable for release.
Hill said the 16-year-old, who is not being identified because of his age, was the ``follower'' in the arson, saying it was instigated by his 11-year-old cousin's fascination with fire.
The 11-year-old, who has pleaded no contest to a charge of arson as a principle in the second degree, is scheduled to be sentenced next month. He was allowed to remain at home with his parents, while the 16-year-old has been held in a juvenile detention center since he was arrested about one week after the fire.
Hill said the boys ``did not understand and appreciate ... that this was a historic structure and someone had just put $100,000 in it.''
The 16-year-old's mother testified that her son ``is not a criminal-type child.'' She said he has requested that she apologize on his behalf to the church's pastor. She also asked the judge to consider some form of community service that would include cleaning up the debris from the fire.
``If I could, I would pay them back for what I have done,'' the 16-year-old testified.
He asked that he receive another chance with a treatment program. If he is incarcerated in a state learning center, he told the judge, ``I would come out worse than I am now.''
by CNB