Teens plead guilty in barn fire
Two boys charged with arson in the fire that burned a landmark Lewes barn have pleaded guilty to lesser charges. A third teen pleaded guilty April 6.
All three boys pleaded guilty to misdemeanors – reckless burning and graffiti. Originally facing third-degree felony charges, the boys had also faced second-degree conspiracy, criminal mischief, second-degree criminal trespass, third-degree conspiracy and third-degree criminal trespass.
A 14-year-old Lewes boy was the first to plead guilty on April 6 in Sussex County Family Court in front of Judge Peter B. Jones.
A second plea was entered two days later by a 16-year-old Rehoboth Beach boy. He also pleaded guilty before Jones and received the same sentence: Level 5 incarceration, which was suspended for a year of level 3 probation. Both boys also must provide 250 hours of community service within a year, including removing graffiti from public property. Their fine was $1,000, which increased to $1,344 after various fees and victims compensation fund costs were added.
The third boy, a 15-year-old from Ocean View, pleaded guilty to misdemeanor charges April 15, but he chose to enter the mental health court program as his sentence. His attorney, Ron Phillips, asked Judge Paula T. Ryan to close the court proceedings because of the personal medical information that would be discussed as part of the boy's participation in the mental health program. Ryan agreed to keep the plea portion of the proceeding open after a request from the Cape Gazette.
The boy quietly answered yes to questions asked of him. Phillips said his client and the other boys did not mean to start a fire Feb. 6 when they left a historic barn even though they had lit sparklers in a hay loft full of combustible material.
The 50-by-100-foot barn off Gills Neck Road was nothing but rubble following the fire. Owners Bryce and Bill Lingo had intended to use the barn as a community center for their planned Showfield development. A twin barn remains standing on the property once owned by Otis and Hazell Smith, fishing magnates who owned and bred Standardbred horses and polled Hereford cattle.
Deputy Attorney General Paula Fontello agreed that the boys did not intend to burn down the barn.
“There was an attempt to extinguish the sparklers before they left,” she said.
All three boys attended St. Thomas More Academy in Magnolia. Phillips said his client has been out of school. Upon completion of the mental health court program, Ryan said the boy's charges would be nolle prosequi, which means dropped, unless he faces similar charges in the future. Charges for the two other boys will also be nolle prosequi when they complete their sentences.
All three boys are responsible for restitution in connection with the cost of the burned barn. The Fire Marshal's Office placed a price of $150,000 on the barn, but the owners said insurance adjusters placed the value much higher. The barn was extraordinary, with cedar beams placed a foot apart that arched to a peak.
The effect was dramatic and the cost to replace it may be exceptional.
“According to insurance adjusters and investigators, they said you can't afford to build this today,” said Bryce Lingo in a previous interview.
The state has 90 days to determine restitution the boys will have to pay.
Investigators linked the boys to the barn fire after matching graffiti at the barn to graffiti found underneath the Freeman Highway Bridge. The boys admitted to spraypainting graffiti underneath the bridge six days before the barn fire. The Ocean View boy said in court documents he spray painted two girls names and a sexual statement toward the girls at the barn that burned and also drew a sexual object.
