There will be no jail time for the perpetrator of several acts of church vandalism culminating in the arson of St. Michaels Hungarian Church near Bashaw in February.
SEE ALSO: Bashaw RCMP make arrest in church vandalism spree
After pleading guilty to seven different charges of mischief causing damage both above and below $5,000, Cameron Moses Wright, 18, of Ponoka County, was given a two-year Community Service Order (CSO), followed by six months of probation.
In addition, Wright was assessed fines amounting to $ 1,400 payable by the end of January 2024.
Wright is one of two youths arrested in connection to a string of church vandalism which occurred during the latter part of 2022 and early 2023 in the East Central region.
During the investigation, officers from Wetaskiwin, Ponoka and Bashaw were involved in the hunt for the vandals; Wright and another youth, who is a minor and cannot be named, turned themselves in to the Bashaw RCMP following a town meeting in Bashaw which saw their photos shared around the community.
According to the website Albertalegal.ca, a CSO is a type of alternative sentencing allowing an offender to serve their sentence in the community. Restrictions can range from full house arrest to regular meetings with case officers to having to observe curfews, or other restrictions as imposed by the judge.