ELLSWORTH (AP) – An Otis boy accused of setting an Ellsworth High School classmate on fire last fall has pleaded guilty to a felony charge of elevated aggravated assault.

Avoiding a juvenile trial, 15-year-old Lucas White entered his plea Friday in Ellsworth District Court.

White, who could be committed to the Maine Department of Corrections until his 21st birthday, is expected to appear in court again on May 7.

The 14-year-old student who was burned in the Oct. 30 incident, Donald Awalt of Ellsworth, sat with his mother, grandparents and other relatives in the courtroom as White addressed Judge Bernard Staples.

Assistant District Attorney Mary Kellett told Staples the state had agreed to drop charges of arson and aggravated assault against White in exchange for the admission to a single count.

Staples agreed to allow White to continue living with his father and stepmother while awaiting sentencing. Kellett told the judge White had held a cigarette lighter to a female student’s back during a school costume contest and was overheard to say that Awalt, dressed in a military outfit with fake leaves on it, looked like marijuana.

White held the lighter to Awalt three times before he lit the boy on fire, Kellett said. According to witnesses, Awalt leaped from the bleachers and rolled around on the gymnasium floor as other students used parts of their costumes to beat out the flames.

Awalt, who suffered serious burns to his legs and back and spent weeks recuperating, has resumed attending classes and White has been expelled.

White’s attorney, Chris Largay of Bangor, said outside the courtroom that multiple felony charges amounted to “overkill” and that pleading to the one charge avoided the need for a trial.

“Elevated aggravated assault seemed to be the middle ground,” Largay said.

AP-ES-02-21-04 1208EST