PERU — A 16-year-old local boy was accused Saturday of causing an estimated $16,000 in damage to 19 headstones on July 21 in Demerritt Cemetery.
Police have charged a 16-year-old Peru boy with toppling these two headstones and 17 others during a vandalism spree on July 21 in Demerritt Cemetery.
Oxford County Sheriff's Sgt. Timothy Holland said Tuesday that he charged the youth with felony criminal mischief for toppling and smashing the headstones.
The boy will be arraigned Oct. 11 in juvenile court in Rumford District Court.
“At this time, it appears that he acted alone," Holland said of his investigation. "I haven't left a stone unturned.”
The damage was discovered July 22 by a neighbor of the cemetery who checked a recent grave and spotted the vandalism. She notified Peru town officials, who contacted the Sheriff's Office.
About half of the headstones damaged were in the older section of the 6-acre cemetery bordering Route 108 and Main Street.
Many of the headstones date back to the cemetery's origins in the early 19th century and featured beautiful craftsmanship from that era, Robert Dolloff, president of the Demerritt Cemetery Association, said last month.
“Work is ongoing to repair the damage,” Holland said.
He said Collette Monuments of Lewiston has repaired a portion of the damaged stones.
The Demerritt Cemetery began in the early 1800s when Frank Demerritt donated an acre of his large Peru property for it.
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RIVERSIDE
Riverside Cemetery again . now what 00000000000 ???????
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Should be printed in the newspaper.Laws should be changed. Protecting juveniles and their parents should change ASAP. Then maybe parents will become parents and juveniles will stop these acts of vandalism or any other crimes if they knew that they would be exposed fr their acts. Laws are way to lenient and that's why crimes continue.
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Congratulations to Sgt. Holland for solving this crime of reprehensible destruction. Cemetaries should be places of honor, reverance and consolation for families whose members have passed. Willful disturbance and destruction of monuments and markers show lack of respect by the perpetrators and, most likely, a failure of the young man's parents to instill that value in their son. They (the parents) will undoubtedly feel the consequences more than the vandal because they will likely have to pay for the repairs, whereas the boy will have his criminal record expunged when he turns 18.
That being said, Sgt. Holland's comment that he hasn't "left a stone unturned" was probably not the best choice of words given the circumstances.
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