Boy may file admission to setting student on fire

ELLSWORTH – An Otis boy charged with setting an Ellsworth High School classmate on fire with a cigarette lighter last October is willing to admit to a charge of aggravated assault but not to the more serious charges of arson and elevated aggravated assault, his attorney said Wednesday.

Lucas White, 15, has been charged with arson, elevated aggravated assault and aggravated assault for allegedly setting fire Oct. 30 to Donald Awalt’s military sniper costume during the high school’s annual Spook Day festivities.

White’s attorney, Chris Largay of Bangor, said Wednesday that he expects to file an admission – the juvenile equivalent of a guilty plea – to the charge of aggravated assault today in Ellsworth District Court. The Hancock County District Attorney’s Office, however, is unwilling to accept any plea agreement that does not include an admission to intentional or knowing behavior, Largay said.

“We will not admit to arson and we will not admit to elevated aggravated assault,” Largay said. “We’ve always suggested it was a reckless act.”

White’s trial on the charges is scheduled to start Friday in Ellsworth District Court.

Assistant District Attorney Mary Kellett, the prosecutor in the case, said Wednesday the state is seeking a conviction for White at least on one Class A charge. Arson and elevated aggravated assault are Class A crimes while aggravated assault is a Class B crime, she said.

“The state views this as a serious case,” Kellett said.

Because White is a juvenile, conviction on any of the charges could result at most in his being committed to the state Department of Corrections until his 21st birthday, she said.

Awalt, 14, of Ellsworth was burned in a “ball of flame” when he was set on fire during a costume contest, according to students who witnessed the incident in the school gymnasium. The boy leaped from the bleachers to the gym floor and rolled around as other students and school staff beat out the flames with parts of their costumes.

Awalt suffered serious burns to his buttocks and back and spent more than a month in Boston hospitals recovering. He since has returned home and resumed classes at Ellsworth High School.

White, who Largay has said is remorseful for the incident, since has been expelled from the school and is being home-schooled by his parents, according to the defense attorney.