Pa. Senate okays stiffer arson penalties
HARRISBURG - The state Senate on Wednesday unanimously approved a bill to increase the penalties for arsonists.
HARRISBURG - The state Senate on Wednesday unanimously approved a bill to increase the penalties for arsonists.
The bill, which now goes to the state House, was prompted by serial arsonists who set 70 fires in Coatesville between February 2008 and March 2009. The fires led to the death of an 83-year-old woman, caused more than $3 million in damages and left scores of people homeless.
"Too often arson is considered primarily a 'paper' crime of fraud, most affecting insurance companies, but that is simply not the case," said the bill's sponsor Sen. John Rafferty (R., Montgomery). "It is a deadly and costly crime that kills innocent people, puts emergency responders in harm's way and can devastate neighborhoods."
The bill would create a new class of crime known as aggravated arson and set tougher sentencing guidelines. Under the new class of crime, a person could be convicted of aggravated arson if he intentionally started a fire - or if he aided or paid someone else to start a fire - with the intent to cause bodily injury or with knowledge that someone was inside the property at the time.
The bill also would increase penalties if a firefighter, police officer, emergency responder or civilian sustained injuries as a result of the crime. It also would allow stronger sentences if more than three people were inside the property at the time of the crime or the arson resulted in more than $1 million in property damage.
717-783-2584 @inkyamy