’Tween Arsonist Goes AWOL After 1 Week

COLUMBUS, Ohio—A ‘tween who was serving a sentence in connection with two South Side fires escaped again Tuesday.

Ryan Parsley, 12, faced arson charges in two South Side fires—one on Barthman Avenue and another on Innis Avenue—and was initially sentenced to confinement at a local juvenile detention center.

He escaped from the facility on March 21 and was on the run for several weeks.

He was arrested April 14, after his family persuaded him to turn himself in.

After Parsley was found, a magistrate sentenced him to time at the New Horizons Facility in Bethesda, Ohio, last Monday.

According to Franklin County Children Services, New Horizons is a staff-secured facility. The arrangement for Parsley was that he would have one-on-one supervision at all times.

A spokesperson for FCCS says there was miscommunication between staff members at New Horizons regarding the supervision, and Parsley escaped when he was unsupervised after being there for only one week.

Local authorities are now searching for Parsley.

So what’s next?

FCCS said they will assess what went wrong before they make another recommendation to the court.

Also, as part of his sentencing, Parsley was to remain on probation until June 15, 2011.

The probation included a curfew set by his probation officer, inability to leave his county of residence without his probation officer’s permission, residential treatment, random drug testing, and electronic monitoring device as needed per his probation officer, no contact with co-defendants or other known gang members.

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