ST. GEORGE, Utah — A teen who brought explosives to Pine View High School has been sentenced to jail time.
Martin Farnsworth, 17, was ordered to serve 415 days in detention with credit for time served (which he has already served). He also was given 48 months probation, 250 hours of community service, and court-ordered treatment and any recommended medication by 5th District Court Judge Michael Westfall. He was also ordered to have no access to the internet or explosive materials or bomb-making components. He pleaded guilty in March to a charge of intent to commit injury with an incendiary device, a first-degree felony.
He was originally charged with attempted murder and possession of a weapon of mass destruction, as well as misdemeanor graffiti charges. The case was originally filed in juvenile court, but Farnsworth was later transferred to the adult court system.
Farnsworth was arrested last year after police said he brought a backpack loaded with a bomb to Pine View High. Prosecutors said he lit a fuse, but the bomb did not detonate.
Police also accused him of researching information about the terror group ISIS online. He was also accused of replacing an American flag at a school in Hurricane with a pro-ISIS flag.
“If I didn’t get caught from this, if people got hurt and I could get away from it? I would have laid low for a little while, kind of see what people’s reactions were, whether there were comments about it, etc. Then later on try to hang an ISIS flag somewhere like on a school or maybe on the freeway, make it look like ISIS is here. Then maybe after that try to contact ISIS, but I don’t really know how to do that. I need to do more research on that,” he told police, according to a court filing FOX 13 reported on last year.
A psychologist testified on his behalf that Farnsworth was diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder.
