Teen Pleads Guilty To Burning Down Historic Church

COLUMBUS, Ind.—
A 19-year-old man has been sentenced to 545 days in jail for his role in the torching of a 118-year-old southern Indiana church listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

He's one of eight Columbus teenagers charged in connection with the July 2010 fire, which destroyed the Grandview Apostolic Church.

Dalton J. Poe of Columbus pleaded guilty Monday to institutional criminal mischief. The Republic says in exchange for the plea, authorities agreed to dismiss arson and conspiracy charges.

Twenty-year-old Skylar Ping has accepted a plea deal, while other defendants await trial.

Investigators say the teens decided to burn down the church last July after taking LSD and coming to believe that it belonged to Satan worshipers.