Church Arsonist, 13, Is Put on Probation

A North Carolina teenager who set fire to a historic church this summer was sentenced to probation, community service and continued mental health treatment, a prosecutor said Wednesday.

The white 13-year-old girl had been arrested shortly after the fire and placed in a mental facility. Matthews Murkland Presbyterian Church lost its onetime sanctuary, a one-room wooden edifice built by former slaves in 1864.

Authorities say the girl’s motives were not racial but were anti-Christian. The girl, whose name was not released because she is a juvenile, apologized to the pastor of the church at a closed court hearing Tuesday.