After six months and for the last time, Boy-12 walked out of Courtroom 108 at the Sterling, IL, branch of the Whiteside County Courthouse, on Tuesday, January 21, 2014. He left as an admitted arsonist, having plead guilty to starting a calamitous Main Street fire on Monday, July 15, 2013, in Prophetstown, IL.
This came as no surprise. In this courtroom on Tuesday, July 16, 2013, Boy-12 and his half-brother, Boy-16, gave up their right to a hearing, whereby the State would have to prove they committed the offense.
The Honorable William McNeal sentenced the younger boy to serve five years on probation. Because of his age, that was the stiffest probation term possible. He was not given incarceration through the Illinois Department of Juvenile Justice. This could have included up to 30 days in a juvenile facility.
A condition of Boy-12’s placement on probation was requested by States Attorney’s Office Prosecutor Carol Linkowski. Boy-12 must participate in a procedure new to Whiteside County: Victim-Offender Conferencing. The rationale is that offenders usually do not learn about the human cost of their actions in the courtroom. Conferencing allows offenders to fully-realize that cost and attempt to make things right in some way. When victims hold offenders accountable and offenders take responsibility for their actions, the healing process begins.
The plea agreement called for dismissal of 18 associated charges including
- being a delinquent minor who, on Monday, July 15, 2013, committed residential arson and knowingly damaged the residence of Cindy Erics.
- knowingly damaging the real property of Cindy Erics without the consent of Cindy Erics.
- committing criminal damage to property recklessly, by means of fire in a recycling bin, that damaged the property of Cindy Erics., causing damage that exceeded $100,000.
- committing felony arson.
Boy-12 has been under family supervision for half a year, living with his father and step-mother in Prophetstown, since his arraingment, Tuesday, July 16. The boy’s mother resides in New York but never attended court proceedings. However, on this day, the maternal grandmother was there for the first time.
Boy-16, his Defense Attorney Mark Holldorf, and supportive adults entered the courtroom. The older boy has been under electronic monitoring, while living in Prophetstown and after returning home to Wisconsin to live with his mother. Attorney Holldorf requested the monitoring device be removed or that a modification be made to allow more leniency wearing it.
Judge “McNeal denied both requests, saying that ‘It’s still a little too soon’,” reported Christi Warren, Sauk Valley Newspapers.
The next court date for Boy-16 is Tuesday, February 18, 2014.
Because they are juveniles, neither boy’s identity is to be published.