Youth charged for three offenses

Published 2:00 pm Saturday, June 30, 2007

But prosecutors say there’s insufficient evidence to link him with school threats.

Though he faces explosives, marijuana and computer trespass charges, a 16-year-old Bainbridge High School student was not charged in connection with a threat of gun violence that canceled classes June 18.

Kitsap County Prosecutors said there wasn’t enough evidence to connect the boy, who was charged with the other crimes Wednesday, to the threat.

The youth pleaded not guilty to possession of explosives without a license, possession of marijuana and second-degree computer trespass, according to his attorney, Ryan Witt. Possession of explosives without a license is a class C felony; the other two charges are misdemeanors.

“I think it’s unfortunate that the media spun this up so quickly and tied (my client) to the threat,” Witt said. “Clearly he shouldn’t have been.”

Police served a search warrant on the boy’s home last week and found bomb-making materials and eight small marijuana plants in a shed on the family property, according to court documents.

The warrant was granted to search the youth’s home for “evidence relating to the death threat letter and computer trespass,” according to the investigation report.

Police say that in the alleged computer trespass incident the boy gained unauthorized access to a fellow student’s computer system and, once inside, changed the girl’s email passwords and uploaded pornographic images to her website.

The girl was one of several students who were specifically mentioned in the threat of violence – found by staff in computer-generated letters posted at the school – that closed the campus June 18.

In a statement to the school board last week, the boy’s family denied his involvement in the threat, saying the explosives found by police were used as special effects in amateur movies to which he contributed.

Deputy Police Chief Mark Duncan said the investigation is ongoing, and that police haven’t finished searching computers found at the boy’s home.

Following his arrest the youth was emergency expelled from school, which let out for the summer last Friday.

BHS Principal Brent Peterson said that any further disciplinary action against is on hold pending the results of the investigation.