Apr 11, 2017 3 min read

WAYNESBURG – A Carmichaels man was sentenced Tuesday to 15 months to 10 years in state prison for starting a fire in an abandoned Crucible school in 2015.

Jesse James Jenkins, 24, of 611 Brownsferry Road, pleaded guilty Tuesday to several felony charges, including arson.

According to the criminal complaint filed by Cumberland Township police, Jenkins and his co-defendant, Alexandra Jarrell, 20, set fire to a mattress in a second-story room at the abandoned school at 648 Crucible Road in Cumberland Township, then left the building.

The building recently had been used as a haunted-house attraction, and there was a mattress in the room with hay around it. Jenkins used a lighter to light a piece of paper on fire, placed it on the mattress and used hay to get a flame going, the complaint said.

Two boys, ages 12 and 16, also were present and in the care of Jenkins at the time of the arson. All four left in Jenkins car while the fire burned inside the building.

Crucible Volunteer Fire Department put out the fire, but not before damage was done to the building, the complaint said.

Jenkins pleaded guilty to two counts each of arson, endangering the welfare of children, corruption of minors and recklessly endangering another person, one count each of burglary and causing or risking catastrophe, and two summary violations of criminal mischief and dangerous burning. One felony arson charge and one vandalism charge were withdrawn by the district attorney’s office as part of a plea agreement.

As part of the agreement, Jenkins will be asked to testify if Jarrell’s case goes to trial. She is expected in plea court today.

Jenkins’ state sentence, handed down by Greene County Judge Lou Dayich, will be served at SCI-Pittsburgh and will run concurrently with a Nov. 7 sentence of 11 months to 47 months in jail for engaging in sex acts with a 13-year-old in October 2015.

Jenkins pleaded guilty to corruption of a minor and indecent assault of a person younger than 16 in May. Cumberland Township police said Jenkins tried to have sex with the girl and later asked her to perform sex acts on him at her Crucible home.

Jenkins, who has served about six months of that sentence, told Dayich in court the sexual encounter with the girl happened a month before the arson.

“I really just didn’t know who I was,” Jenkins said in court, with his family sitting behind him to show support. “I was reckless, impulsive and didn’t think about the consequences of my actions.”