ROCKLAND, Maine — A Cushing teen has admitted to twice setting fires that destroyed portable toilets in a city park last summer.
Although Daniel Spear, 19, was sentenced as an adult, he will serve his time in a juvenile facility.
Spear was sentenced last week to serve nine to 12 months in a juvenile correctional facility for violating conditions of probation set for previous unspecified juvenile offenses. That time is in addition to the six months he already has served in Knox County Jail since his arrest in July on the arson charges.
Then on Tuesday, Spear pleaded guilty to two counts of arson during an adult hearing in Knox County Superior Court. Justice Daniel Billings approved an agreement that would allow Spear to be released once he completes his time at the juvenile facility provided he participates in a counseling program at the youth center and refrains from further criminal conduct. The counseling program lasts nine to 12 months.
If he abides by the agreement, the arson charges will be dropped and Spear will be convicted instead of lesser charges of aggravated criminal mischief and failure to report a fire.
Under the lesser charges, Spear is to be sentenced to five years with all but six months suspended to be followed by two years of probation. In addition, he would be credited for the six months already served and thus would have to spend no additional time in jail if he commits no other offenses.
Assistant District Attorney Christopher Fernald said Spear and two co-defendants used hand sanitizer and a lighter to set the fires. Cases against the two other defendants remain active.
The fires were set July 16 and 26 at Sandy Beach Park in Rockland.
Spear was on probation at the time of his arrest in July for previous juvenile offenses. The conditions of his probation as outlined in court Tuesday prohibit him from having contact with anyone under 18 years old, other than his siblings, and from possessing incendiary devices.