SOUTH PORTLAND, Maine — A teenager accused of plotting murder within the South Portland High School community was released from Long Creek Youth Development Center Thursday afternoon after a judge in Cumberland County ruled there wasn't enough evidence to prove he was a danger to the community.
This comes two weeks after that same judge ordered the teen to be detained following new evidence from South Portland police showing the teen violated conditions of release.
The 17-year-old, whose name is not being shared by NEWS CENTER Maine because he is a minor, faces multiple charges after allegedly issuing threats within the community, including the high school, leading to his arrest in April.
The teen was arrested earlier in 2023 following a law enforcement investigation that led to a SWAT team arresting the teenager and his father.
Since then, we learned the teen is accused of an arson incident in 2022 and of terrorizing. He was also charged with trying to solicit someone within the South Portland High School community to commit murder.
Court documents obtained by NEWS CENTER Maine back in September show the teen, who was a student at the high school, attempted to induce another person to come to the school and murder high school community members. The documents allege this incident happened in the semester before spring 2023 when officers arrested the teenager.
During that arrest, law enforcement arrested the teenager and confiscated weapons. The father of the teenager was also arrested and charged with interfering with the arrest of his son.
South Portland Police Chief Dan Ahern said in April several rifles were taken from the home. He described them as high-powered. Ahern would not say what kind or the number of guns, citing the fact the suspect in focus is a juvenile.
Following the numerous court proceedings, the teenager will now be placed on house arrest. With limited interactions online allowed as well as going outside in general.
Many neighbors in South Portland expressed concern about the teenager being back in the community, with many showing up to earlier court hearings out of curiosity to see if he would be allowed back in the school system.
Brandon Brown, who was formerly incarcerated and now works for Maine Youth Justice, said when a youth is cast away it further plants the thought in their head that they are the very things they are accused of.
"There's a myth that some kids are bad but we don't ask ourselves enough about what they are missing," Brown said. "Threats like this are indicative of things that are missing in this young person's life."
Brown said time spent at Long Creek, Maine's only prison for children, further impresses on a young mind.
"We're never going to get the result by sending them to prison and isolating them from solutions," Brown said.
Brown said that even when therapy and other mental health resources are given in prison, it's done so even when kids have to stay inside the institution.
"We have to do away with the belief that these young people are bad... and what we provide matters, just if not more about where we provide them."
The teenager will be placed on house arrest for the foreseeable future until a trial date is set. Attorneys and the judge will continue to go back and forth if he should be tried as a juvenile or an adult sometime in the beginning of 2024.