WESTBROOK, Minn. (AP) — Authorities filed arson charges against a 10-year-old boy who admitted setting a fire that gutted Grace Lutheran Church.
The Westbrook boy was charged with first- and second-degree arson, said Cottonwood County attorney L. Douglas Storey on Monday.
Storey said a second boy has been implicated in the June 20 fire and additional charges may be filed within the next two weeks.
The 10-year-old will be prosecuted in juvenile court, Storey said. Under state law, a child younger than 14 cannot be transferred to adult court. The boy has never before been charged with a delinquency offense, he said.
“This is not the first time a young child in Cottonwood County has been charged with a serious crime,” Storey said in a news release. “The best service citizens can give now is to assist the congregation of Grace Lutheran in healing and moving forward.”
Authorities said the fire was started with paper or cardboard in the middle of the floor in a room where candle-lighting equipment, choir robes and music were stored.
The southwestern Minnesota church, which has about 600 members, was built in 1909.