Teenager Admits He Started Fire 16-Year-Old Pleads Guilty To Arson, Attempted First-Desgree Murder
A 16-year-old accused of helping torch a Spokane home as a family slept inside stood up in juvenile court Wednesday, looked at the family’s mother and apologized for endangering the lives of her children.
Michael Claassen, who spoke in monotone during the proceedings, will spend the next five years in juvenile detention. He pleaded guilty to one count of firstdegree arson, one count of attempted first-degree murder and a charge of taking a car without permission.
The plea followed a short hearing to determine whether Claassen should be charged as an adult in Spokane County Superior Court, which prosecutors had requested.
In his ruling to keep Claassen’s case in the juvenile system, Judge Neal Rielly said: “If we send this young man to prison, there will be no change in him. We will make him more dangerous.”
Rielly added that he believes Claassen is “neither mature nor sophisticated” beyond his years.
Claassen was arrested in early May after he and 15-year-old Robert Provus set fire to a home on the 1200 block of East 12th Avenue by dousing the porch with gasoline.
The arson was treated seriously by prosecutors because a family of seven was asleep when the 3 a.m. blaze broke out. The teens apparently had a falling out with Vickie Bryant - the mother of one of their friends - prompting them to torch the house.
Bryant had at one point given Claassen a haircut and fed him dinner, although she said she barely knew him.
Provus pleaded guilty to first-degree arson and attempted first-degree murder last month and will not be released until he is 21.
Another teenager who was not directly involved with setting the fire pleaded guilty to conspiracy and was given a 7-month sentence.
After the fire was started, investigators said Claassen and Provus spray-painted threats on the Vanessa Behan Crisis Nursery and stole a car from an apartment complex. They were later involved in a wreck and arrested by Spokane police.
While in court Wednesday, Claassen at times kept a hand over his mouth, obscuring signs of emotion.
His parents made a plea to Rielly before the sentencing.
“I’d like to tell the court that I’m the perfect father, but I’m not. It’s obvious my son’s not perfect either,” Louis Claassen said.
Bryant, who cursed at Claassen after he claimed he was drunk when he started the fire, said, “Your biggest gift to me is to never come near me again.”