A juvenile defendant was charged with Arson in the First Degree in Washington State Superior Court for burning down Gault Middle School in Tacoma’s McKinley Hill Neighborhood, according to court records obtained by the Tacoma Sun.
Although three 15 year-olds were initially arrested by Gig Harbor police for the crime, only two faced charges in January 2024 – a male and his girlfriend. The male was placed on house detention with electronic home monitoring until the court hearing. The girlfriend was released to her parents.
Responding to a guilty plea offered in October 2024, a deal was struck in December 2024. It was decided that due to the fire not having any victims and the lack of criminal history of the defendant, a standard sentence of 129 weeks in a juvenile rehabilitation center be rejected in favor of a 20 day sentence with 180 days of electronic home monitoring (with credit of 113 days), plus 12 months probation…