St. Marys teen pleads not guilty in bomb case

WAPAKONETA - The case against a St. Marys teenager accused in a bomb plot last year will remain on hold until he undergoes a psychiatric evaluation to determine if he is competent to stand trial.

Jesse McDermitt, 18, pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity and not guilty to two counts of carrying a concealed weapon, two counts of unlawful possession of a dangerous ordinance and two counts of inducing panic. The charges carrying a maximum penalty of 7.5 years in prison.

The evaluation also will be used to determine his mental state at the time of the crime. Judge Frederick Pepple of Auglaize County Common Pleas Court placed all hearings in the case on hold until the evaluation is complete.

McDermitt is charged in a Dec. 2 incident in St. Marys. Police received a call that morning of a suspicious book bag at the Marathon gas station at 202 W. South St. A customer found the book bag next to one of the gas pumps about 8:30 a.m. A surveillance camera showed McDermitt walking up and leaving the bag, police said.

McDermitt told police he made the bomb out of kerosene but authorities would not confirm that. The devices were designed to detonate and burn, St. Marys Fire Chief Ken Cline said.

During the incident, St. Marys Memorial High School was placed on lockdown while a bomb squad disposed of the bomb.

Police also confiscated two computers from McDermitt's home, an apartment at Townview Terrace Apartments, where he was arrested. The computers were taken so investigators could look through the hard drives to see if McDermitt had researched bomb making as he had two years ago during a separate incident.

McDermitt is the same teenager who brought a bomb to Wapakoneta High School three years ago while entering the building with a knife strapped to his forearm and packing a zip gun. As a 15-year-old, he received more than two years in a juvenile prison. He was out on probation while the last incident occurred and sent back to prison.