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Teen sentenced for school blaze

45-day detention ordered for fire at Bear Creek High

By Sue Lindsay, Rocky Mountain News (Contact)

Published December 5, 2008 at 1:28 p.m.
Updated December 6, 2008 at 1:12 a.m.

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A 15-year-old boy cried in court Friday as he told a magistrate he was sorry for setting the fire that caused more than $3 million damage to Bear Creek High School.

"I'm not the bad kid I've been made out to be," he said. "I'll take whatever the court gives me, but I want to get back to school. I want a fresh start, your honor."

He pleaded with the magistrate not to incarcerate him for Christmas and his birthday on Sunday.

But Magistrate Bradley Burback sent him to detention for 45 days, telling him the punishment pales in comparison to the harm he caused.

"The impact is huge," Burback told him. "When you do something like this, there have to be serious consequences. I can't do justice in this case because I can't turn the clock back."

The Rocky Mountain News, which generally withholds the names of juveniles accused of crimes, is not naming the teen.

Burback ordered him to serve 200 hours of community service, including 50 hours with West Metro firefighters who fought the April 22 blaze. Burback imposed a two-year sentence to youth corrections, suspended on the condition that he successfully complete two years' probation.

The teen also must attend school and stay away from anything that could cause a fire.

"I don't think you're a bad kid," Burback said. "You certainly are a kid who made a real dumb decision. As enormously serious as this is, I don't think you did it out of maliciousness. I think it was out of being stupid."

The teen set foam from a gym mat on fire during a lunch break last spring. The resulting fire destroyed the gym, athletic equipment and uniforms. The school was closed for three days.

The boy was convicted of arson and criminal mischief after a two-day trial in juvenile court in Jefferson County.

Defense attorneys and tearful family members asked for a probation sentence that would allow the teen to go to Missouri to live with his father and attend school there.

The father questioned why school officials hadn't intervened earlier to help his troubled son, who missed 173 days of school that year. "Not one time did (his mother) get a call wondering where he was," the father said.

Burback scolded the teen's mother, saying that the teen's initial attempt to evade responsibility for what he did was a result of how he had been raised.

Burback criticized the lack of structure and consequences in the home.

Burback referred to "disturbing testimony" during the trial that indicated the mother told her son's friend to stick with a phony story of how the fire took place, telling him, "Don't blow it."

Burback said the mother will be held in contempt of court if she does not participate in a parental responsibility training program.

A restitution hearing is set for January.

lindsays@RockyMountainNews.com or 303-954-5181

Comments

  • December 5, 2008

    2 p.m.

    Suggest removal

    Jeff writes:

    Some interesting material here about the parents' responsibility, or lack thereof.
    The "disturbing testimony" about the mother was striking. It's easy enough to play armchair quarterback about a parent's failings, but I've seen this so many times (as I'm sure most people have): The teenager screws up, and the parent(s) swoop in determined that their kid won't actually be punished by outside forces (i.e., the law, school). Only thing is, by doing that the parent is pretty much guaranteeing the kid will get in trouble for something bigger down the line.

  • December 5, 2008

    2:04 p.m.

    Suggest removal

    philvysor writes:

    Play with fire and you will get Burned.....

  • December 5, 2008

    2:20 p.m.

    Suggest removal

    Elwood writes:

    "The father questioned why school officials hadn't intervened earlier to help his troubled son who missed 173 days of school that year."

    Most school districts have about 180 days of school per year. What days did the kid go? Heck, this attendance doesn't qualify for being a student!

    "...but I want to get back to school."

    Yeah Right!

  • December 5, 2008

    2:21 p.m.

    Suggest removal

    LingLingfor_prez writes:

    I think the 200 hours of community service should be all with the firefighters, not just 50. You don't learn anything picking up trash, but you would with the firefighters. Not impressed with the parent's reactions.

  • December 5, 2008

    2:26 p.m.

    BigIrishHooligan writes:

    (This comment was removed by the site staff.)

  • December 5, 2008

    2:43 p.m.

    Suggest removal

    Cowboy63 writes:

    "Defense attorneys and tearful family members asked for a probation sentence that would allow the teen to go to Missouri to live with his father and attend school there."

    I'll bet "tearful family members" were begging to send him to Missouri!

    Always the same old story!..
    absentee father+burned-out mother+screwed-up kid= wasted life that society foots the bill for. 200 hrs of service? That's it? What would he have gotten if he'd burned the whole school down and killed a dozen classmates in the process... 300 hrs?

    This kid's life is going nowhere (thanks Mom and Dad!). How many more of his crimes will we have to pay for along the way?

  • December 5, 2008

    2:47 p.m.

    Suggest removal

    roger44 writes:

    45 days for $3 million worth of damage, real tough sentence. he will be back in a court room. the parents are responsible as much as the kid. OJ got 33 years for a robbery, a muderer in Boulder got 32, real tough on these guys in Colorado, and then they wonder why they are back again.

  • December 5, 2008

    3:21 p.m.

    Suggest removal

    DruidMother writes:

    Big Irish, To answer your question of the legality of using the minor childs name becomes an issue of whether or not he was tried as an adult. I am not sure if he was...but then again most court proceedings and their outcomes are a matter of public record... If anyone has further info or I am wrong, please say let me know, Thanks!

  • December 5, 2008

    3:39 p.m.

    Suggest removal

    denverrma writes:

    173 days missed!? Im a Douglas Co. teacher and we have only 185 contact days a year! How did this not come back to the parents (who obviously shouldn't be raising kids anyway!) and the district attendance offices?

    So this kid, in his 12 (?) days of school, thought that lighting a fire was the best way to utilize his education contact time?!

    You need a license to catch a fish or drive a car, but any ol' idiot can have kids!

  • December 5, 2008

    3:44 p.m.

    Suggest removal

    swedams writes:

    Where was mom the whole school year? Obviously not their! If there is no support at home the kids are just going to do what they want and feel is right. There should have been some stucture in that kids life. If there had been, he would have known from wrong or right-mom should be charged with something for neglegting her kid or kids if she has more. Unbeleivable!!!

  • December 5, 2008

    5:02 p.m.

    Suggest removal

    wow writes:

    I'd have to guess that the 173 days is rather the number of classes he missed and not the actual full school days.
    If he has 8 classes, that means he's missed an ammount of time equal to 21 days. Still a boat load.
    And as for not being notified...the absences and tardies are listed on the report card. The automated system shoots you a call every time they are tardy, to say nothing of being absent.
    Gotta call her on that one...liar liar pants on fire.
    Just realized how funny that is.

  • December 5, 2008

    8:36 p.m.

    Suggest removal

    EZBakeOven writes:

    45 days is not enough for the extent of the damage. I don't give a crap about the parents, blah blah blah. This kid made a bad decision and now he gets to pay (very little) for it.

  • December 5, 2008

    11:17 p.m.

    Suggest removal

    Darwin writes:

    No, the kid doesn't have to "pay" for it, we, the taxpayers have to pay. To the tune of millions of dollars.

  • December 10, 2008

    8:03 p.m.

    Suggest removal

    Amor_real writes:

    Yea he screwed up but that is what teenagers do. I bet that all of you writing commets have done something really stupid in you teenage years, you learn from your mistakes. everything happens for a reason good or bad.
    Good luck cameron hang in there.

  • December 16, 2008

    6:23 a.m.

    Suggest removal

    73pcman writes:

    173 miss classes, and I believe most of those where in the second term. he has been expolded from school. Acording to the "Safe School Act" he can not enroll in any public school in the nation. Private schools are expensive and not always the best rout. The school and the parents are resonsible for this child. The father lives over 600 miles away and has come out on several occassions to be at his sons court dates. The Father was not aware of what was going on up untile the fire incident. But, did the school follow its policies? Check out Jeffco Policies and Procedures and tell me if they did. Kids make mistakes, alot of us have. But, alot of us have grown to be successful and have learned from our mistakes. He should have the right to continued his education and should not be judged for one stupid stunt. If we were all judged by our teen years we'd all be locked up. I believe the school and the mother neglected this child and even saw what was happening and did nothing. I say let him move to Missouri and get a fresh start. His mother couldn't do the job, so let his dad take care of him. He couldn't do worse, thats for sure. Make the parent and the schools answere to these alligations is what i recommend.