Judge to teen criminal: ‘You’ve got to grow up’
17-year-old boy who torched church’s wheelchair ramp has history of fleeing from group home, gets warning that he needs to straighten out before reaching age of majority
A young ward of the province has demonstrated a pattern of flight from his group home, drug abuse and petty crimes, and a judge warned him Friday to change his ways ahead of his looming 18th birthday.
A 17-year-old Fredericton boy, who can’t be identified, as per the provisions of the Youth Criminal Justice Act, appeared in youth court in person and in custody Friday for sentencing.
He’d previously pleaded guilty to several crimes, the most serious of which was an instance of arson at a church in downtown Fredericton.
He committed the offence June 17, said prosecutor Kyle Horsman, who noted the city police were dispatched to the Brunswick Street Baptist Church, where a wooden wheelchair ramp at the back of the building had been set on fire.