Posted on 05/22/2018 9:57:14 AM PDT by Simon Green
A teenager who started a major wildfire in the scenic Columbia River Gorge in Oregon has been ordered to pay restitution for at least the next decade, though it's unlikely the boy will ever cover his nearly $37 million bill.
The Oregonian reports that Hood River County Circuit Judge John A. Olson issued the opinion on Monday, awarding the restitution totaling $36,618,330.24 to cover the costs of firefighting, repair and restoration to the gorge and damage to homes. Victims include the U.S. Forest Service and Oregon Department of Transportation.
The 15-year-old from Vancouver, Washington, earlier this year acknowledged wrongdoing and said he threw two fireworks in Eagle Creek Canyon on Sept. 2 when flames spread quickly. The fire caused evacuations, an extended shutdown of a major interstate highway and devastation to a major outdoor tourist attraction.
The judge's order notes that the boy can set up a payment plan, though payments can be halted after 10 years as long as he complies, completes probation and doesn't commit other crimes.
At a hearing last week, the boy's lawyer urged for a "reasonable and rational" penalty, calling the $37 million sought an "absurd" amount for the child. The restitution is solely the responsibility of the teen, and not his parents, who came to the U.S. from Ukraine.
Olson called it "an extraordinary amount" and then deferred on a separate restitution order because he wanted more time to review the case. The judge said the largest figure he could find for prior juvenile restitution cases in Oregon was $114,000.
The teen in February pleaded guilty to reckless burning of public and private property and other charges. Olson sentenced him to community service and probation, and the boy had to write more than 150 letters of apology...
(Excerpt) Read more at yahoo.com ...
i believe it is a criminal restitution order not a judgement
http://www.hkjp.com/Articles-Table-of-Contents/Criminal-Restitution-Impact-00628857.pdf
OK......
One christmas several of us neighborhood boys got bows and arrows fr christmas. We went to the former golf course to shoot them
After lunch the others went back and sharetakers chicken. they took it into a patch of woods and built aa fire to cook it. They set the woods on fire .
There but for the Grace of God go I
The kid should just write a check and be done with it.
The punishment for the boy exceeds the crime and will probably be overturned on appeal.
Its cruel and unusual punishment forbidden by the Constitution.
Punishment has to be proportionate to the crime. The judge is imposing lifetime punishment on a 15 year old boy.
Fine him a $1000 and call it a day and hope he learns something from it.
Right. You know how I feel. It would have been one thing if the kid had gone out with a gallon of gas, spread it over something and maliciously lit it on fire, as some kids have done with their school.
This is just a kid who was probably enjoying watching it fall, and then hearing the bang echoing, not even giving a second thought to starting a fire.
He was a dumb kid. As so many people say, there but for the grace of God go I.
What I was thinking too.
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