A 14-year-old Naytahwaush, Minn., youth denied any role in causing $10,000 damage to a church in the town May 28.
The boy and another suspect in the church vandalism appeared Thursday in Mahnomen County District Court.
The first boy told District Judge Richard Taylor that he played no part in the vandalism, said Mahnomen County Attorney Julie Bruggeman.
"He denied it ever happened," she said.
Previously, the teen was charged with first-degree criminal damage to property and third-degree burglary.
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The judge ordered the boy held in the West Central Regional Juvenile Detention Center in Moorhead until a pretrial hearing July 10.
"The decision was made for the community's safety as well as the boy's," Bruggeman said.
"People in Naytahwaush are still enraged" about the church vandalism, she said.
The second boy, 15, made his first appearance Thursday on the same charges.
However, he did not enter a plea and he was sent to the Moorhead detention center pending a court hearing June 19.
A third suspect in the case, a 14-year-old boy, is living at an alcohol treatment center in South Dakota, said Mahnomen Sheriff Brad Athmann.
All three boys have been accused in court of vandalizing the Naytahwaush Free Gospel Church May 28.
Vandals wrecked light fixtures, windows, a sound system and a TV set.
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They also wrote obscenities inside the church, authorities said.
The names of the youth were not been released because of their ages.
Readers can reach Forum reporter Cole Short at (701) 241-5557
