This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2012, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Ogden •A 16-year-old Roy High School student charged with plotting to bomb the school said in court Tuesday that he never planned to hurt anyone.
The teen told a juvenile court judge he invented the bomb plot, and purposely leaked it to other students, out of frustration at being ignored when he tried to raise concerns about measures to prevent a school shooting.
Nevertheless, the boy was ordered to spend at least six months in a secure juvenile detention facility.
Weber County attorney Letitia Toombs said the six-month period was recommended to the judge because it, hopefully, will allow the teen to get help.
"... Secure confinement offers the opportunity to go forward with treatments, schooling and help with the issues he has," Toombs said.
The boy — a staff member at the student newspaper — wrote a story in April 2010 outlining the high school's plan for handling a school shooting or similar event. He specifically cited the deadly shootings at Columbine and Virginia Tech and pointed out what he felt were shortcomings in Roy High's "preventative security measures."
Last year, the teen traveled to Colorado to interview the principal of Columbine for another story. But the school pulled the plug on the article before he left for the interview, said Scott Nickle, the teen's defense attorney.
Upset at being "dismissed" about the dangers of a mass shooting, the teen in January decided to try "a last ditch attempt" to scare teachers and students into awareness, Nickle said, by creating the bomb plot and sending a text to a student who likely would contact school administrators.
"I felt invalidated," the boy told Second District Court Juvenile Judge Janice Frost. "My initial goal was awareness."
Police have said the teen — along with fellow student 18-year-old Dallin Todd Morgan — allegedly planned to detonate a bomb during a school assembly, then steal an airplane and fly away to freedom.
The two were arrested on Jan. 25, after other students reported receiving troubling text messages from the 16-year-old.
Subsequent searches turned up no explosives, but police said they did find plans for an explosive device along with maps of the school and its security. When Judge Frost asked the teen what he would have done if the text messages were not revealed to administrators, he said he wasn't exactly sure.
"I don't know," the teen said. "My end goal was not to blow up the school. I probably would have thought of another plan. I don't know what that plan was. I didn't have a contingency plan."
Both the 16-year-old and Morgan were charged with one first-degree felony count of possession of weapon of mass destruction. A preliminary hearing for Morgan is set for May 14 in 2nd District Court.
Prosecutors had been working to certify the 16-year-old as an adult, which potentially could have landed him in prison for up to life. But the boy avoided that possibility by pleading guilty as charged.
In addition to detention, the judge ordered the 16-year-old to pay $8,000 to $10,000 in restitution, which is the cost of re-keying all door locks at the high school. The locks were changed because the teen — who was a technician for the drama department — at one point had the keys to the school. Gina Butters, principal of Roy High School, said the incident has left many students and staff in fear, even weeks after the teens were arrested. Butters said many students have left the school, or begun home schooling, because they feared for their safety. This sudden decrease in students has administrators worried about enrollment numbers for next year, and lower numbers could mean smaller budgets for the school, she said.
"It's really cast a black, negative shadow on the school," she said.
The teen's father said in court that while his son overstepped the line, he believes the situation could have been avoided if the boy's concerns about the lack of school security had been addressed.
"We understand the route he took was inappropriate," the man said. "That's why we are so supportive of what [juvenile authorities] are doing now."
A juvenile parole board will determine when the 16-year-old is released from detention. Juvenile offenders can be held until they turn 21.
The Tribune generally does not name juveniles charged with crimes.