Boy enters guilty pleas in shooting Teen shot sibling in face after stealing grandfather’s .22-caliber gun

WEST BATH – A 15-year-old boy charged with shooting his younger brother in the face in their Topsham home pleaded guilty to three charges.

Jason Steinle, who entered his pleas Monday in West Bath District Court, will undergo psychological testing while he remains in state custody. He is scheduled to be sentenced July 1.

The charges – aggravated assault, reckless conduct with a firearm and theft of a firearm – followed a Feb. 14 incident in which Jason shot his younger brother, Kyle Steinle, 14.

Kyle was hospitalized for weeks with critical injuries before being released from Maine Medical Center in Portland.

According to Assistant District Attorney Patricia Mador, Jason Steinle admitted to stealing a .22-caliber handgun from his grandfather’s Connecticut home after picking the lock to where it was stored.

The grandfather verified that the gun was missing, and said he had not given Jason permission to have the weapon.

Topsham police arrested Steinle six days after the shooting. Family members have declined comment.

Judge Michael Westcott ordered the teen to be returned to the Long Creek Youth Development Center, formerly known as the Maine Youth Center, in South Portland for the next two weeks.

Westcott also ordered the state Department of Human Services to transfer Jason after that time to KidsPeace, a diagnostic treatment program in Ellsworth.

“KidsPeace is a program where a child is placed into a full program of psychological testing,” said Edwin Chester, the boy’s lawyer.

In court, Mador expressed concern with Jason’s release and said the testing offered through KidsPeace could be provided at the youth center.

“I am very concerned at the threat that he poses to the public,” Mador said, “and the fact that despite counseling for the past three years, this incident still occurred.”