A teenager accused of setting a fire at an abandoned Jeannette hospital will begin a 52-week rehabilitation program for fire-setters next week, Westmoreland County Judge Michele Bononi ordered Wednesday.
"I can only hope that you ... work with the program, that you do come out successfully and that one day I'm proud to say" you finished college and got a job, Bononi told the 17-year-old boy during a disposition hearing.
The teen was adjudicated delinquent Oct. 10 on felony charges of risking a catastrophe and criminal trespass and two counts of arson. He has denied setting the fire, but admitted to being inside Monsour Medical Center along Route 30 on July 9, 2011 -- the date a fire was set on the fifth floor.
The teen has been held at the Westmoreland County Juvenile Detention Center since his arrest in September, along with five adults in connection with multiple arsons in Jeannette since 2008.
Those arrested are responsible for nine of 20 fires, according to police. The juvenile was charged for one fire.
Defense attorney Patricia Elliot said she will appeal the sentence. She was seeking house arrest so the teen could continue working toward a culinary arts degree at Westmoreland County Community College.
Juvenile Probation Officer Dan Hayden detailed the teen's record, which dates to March 2008. He had been adjudicated delinquent on theft and criminal trespass and failed to appear for at least one hearing, Hayden said.
Court-ordered placements have occurred throughout the last four years. The teen's most recent case was closed in July 2012 after a successful discharge from Outside In, a Bolivar-based rehabilitation program for youths.
Social worker Benjamin Yaroch testified the teen "thrived" in structured environments. Yaroch evaluated the teen and recommended he take part in the fire-setting program at Abraxas Youth & Family Center in Lehigh County.
"Prior to this, he has not presented as currently violent or aggressive to others," Yaroch testified. He said most of the boy's adolescence was spent "in the streets," without supervision, "dodging the cops."
Yaroch testified the teen has a history of truancy, with little parental support or guidance. The parents declined to speak to the judge Wednesday and Yaroch said he was unable to contact them during his evaluation.
The teen told Bononi that he has been turning his life around by enrolling in college and severing ties with his old group of friends. He had moved in with a new friend and the pair had been attending church until his arrest.
"College, I knew, was my way out of it," he testified. "I just wanted to do right, to make my family proud. The only thing I could've done is show it by doing it."
Abraxas will attempt to work with WCCC so the teen can continue work toward his degree, said Beth Stutzman, a center representative.
Assistant District Attorney Leo Ciaramitaro called it "convenient" the teen had a "change of heart" around the time investigators interviewed him about the arson.
Elliot said the youth has always been truthful when accused of crimes in the past.
"He generally came in and said, 'Yes, I did it,'" Elliot said. "He always made excuses for his truancy ... but he never denied it."
Five witnesses testified during the boy's adjudication hearing that they entered the abandoned building as a group, armed with food, alcohol and sheets. They set up in an eighth-floor room, lit some candles and went exploring.
During the hearing, some of the group recanted previous statements, implicating the teen, given to an agent of the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
All of the witnesses testified during the hearing that they lied to the agent and the juvenile did not start the fire.
Preliminary hearings are scheduled Nov. 2 for four of the five adults charged in connection with the nine arsons between Aug. 29, 2008 and March 28, 2012.
The suspects are:
--Jeffrey Robert Tierney Jr., 24, of Jeannette;
--Roger William Adair, 27, of Jeannette;
--John Raymond Horne, 21, of Jeannette;
--Christopher Allen Jones, 22, of Irwin.
Richard Allen Adair Jr., 28, of Jeannette, previously waived his right to a preliminary hearing.
The five are charged with arson, criminal conspiracy, criminal trespass and risking a catastrophe. Roger Adair and Horne are charged with aggravated assault because a firefighter was injured while battling a fire Feb. 3 on Chestnut Street.
Copyright 2012 - Tribune-Review, Greensburg, Pa.
McClatchy-Tribune News Service
