This sad situation has torn up a community -- and i suspect the people will not be happy unless this young perp is charged as an adult.

A 16-year-old Needville High School student admitted to starting the blaze that destroyed part of his school and caused students to retake the state-mandated TAKS tests, his attorney said Monday.

The 10th-grader arrived at the Fort Bend County courthouse with his attorney Steven Rocket Rosen on Monday and spent a couple of hours giving investigators a statement. He could be taken into custody today.

"He has admitted the wrongdoing. He is the one who started the fire," Rosen said. The teen's name is not being released because he is a juvenile. School officials said he was serving an in-school suspension when the fire occurred.

Rosen declined to discuss the motive for the April 23 fire but did say it had nothing to do with TAKS tests administered the week before the blaze. The test booklets were destroyed by the fire, which razed a large portion of the high school in the rural community.

"This was the best thing for Needville, for him, for the family, for the community and for law enforcement," Rosen said about the teen's admission. Rosen said he expects the teen to be placed in the juvenile detention center soon.

There's a lot more to come out in this case, but given that the kid set the fire in two locations and caused millions of dollars in damage to the facility I am unable to see how this will be treated as merely a juvenile case. the political pressure will be too great -- and the reality is that the act merits such serious prosecution.

Posted by: Greg at 10:29 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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