SOUTH PORTLAND, Maine — A court reversed a decision Friday to allow the release of a South Portland teenager from Long Creek Youth Development Center one day after it was approved by a district court judge.
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.
He has been charged with terrorizing, criminal solicitation, and arson, according to a news release issued by South Portland Police on Dec. 1. The boy was taken into custody Nov. 30 and has since been held at Long Creek Youth Development Center.
On Thursday, Judge Peter Darvin ordered the boy's release from the facility for Friday, with additional conditions of release to include house arrest and daily reporting to a juvenile community corrections officer, according to a letter obtained by NEWS CENTER Maine that was sent from the Cumberland County district attorney's office to South Portland High School community members.
An update to the community was issued around 3 p.m. Friday, noting that the decision to allow his release had been reversed.
"Pursuant to new information that was provided by the South Portland Police Department, the District Attorney's Office filed a motion with the court today, requesting that Judge Darvin reconsider his decision to release [the juvenile]," the update says, in part, also noting that the boy would be held at Long Creek for the time being, "pending the judge's review next week."
The boy was charged and detained back in April but was released by court order with "certain conditions, which he has since violated," a news release issued by South Portland police on Dec. 1, prompting his return to custody the day before the release was issued.
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 a number of 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.
According to previous reporting by NEWS CENTER Maine, the boy appeared in court for an initial detention hearing last Friday.
Following the detention hearing at Cumberland County District Court in Portland, it was stated the boy violated conditions of his release by being in possession of a second phone and communicating with others on that device.
The unmonitored content of the communications was taken seriously as a threat, a state attorney said at the hearing, adding that the communications reportedly began in August. Officials were already tracking his private phone. In response, the state wished for a repercussion of detainment.
However, the minor's attorney argued the unmonitored communications are not a threat and are merely just a "lonely kid trying to reach out to his friends."
At the hearing, a witness testified of the boy's cooperative behavior. Defendants didn't deny there was a violation but emphasized the boy, who has been very compliant, made a mistake.
The boy's parents spoke about how proud they are of their son in facing his situation of "ostracization" from society.
Following these statements, the judge stated without seeing screenshots of messages sent by the boy he can't speak in detail and requested a continuance of the boy's detainment with right of release until another hearing scheduled for 9:30 a.m. Thursday, Dec. 7, during which he called for the boy's release the following afternoon.
The judge also emphasized to the media present at the Dec. 1 hearing there is no threat to the public, residents of South Portland, or South Portland schools. However, during the follow-up hearing, the state reportedly raised concerns regarding new statements he allegedly made to staff at Long Creek and maintained their position that he should remain held there, according to the letter sent by the district attorney's office to the high school community on Friday.
The boy's next court appearance has been scheduled for 9:30 a.m. Monday, Dec. 18.