An Edmonds man who has an obsession with fire was sentenced to 11 months in the Snohomish County Jail on Tuesday for the torching a vacant house on 234th Street SW.
A jury last week convicted Kenneth William Sloan, 20, of second-degree arson in one of two fires started Aug. 19 within a few blocks of his south Edmonds home.
With credit for time already served and time off for good behavior, Sloan likely will be out of jail by spring.
After his release, Snohomish County Superior Court Judge James Allendoerfer said Sloan will have to undergo a mental evaluation and complete any therapy that’s recommended.
Deputy prosecutor Jim Townsend urged the judge to protect the community for as long as the law allows, in this case one year behind bars. He said that Sloan has shown an escalating pattern of fire setting. Townsend dismissed charges in the second arson fire the same night due to lack of evidence.
Some of the fires happened when Sloan was a child in California, and Sloan was convicted in Snohomish County Juvenile Court four years ago of three counts of reckless burning.
“He meets all definitions of a serial arsonist at this point,” Townsend said.
Defense attorney Caroline Mann objected to Allendoerfer considering a report about Sloan that was prepared for Juvenile Court. She said Sloan was working at three jobs when he was arrested the night of the fire, and he’s a lot more mature now than he was when the Juvenile Court report was written.
She noted that the vacant house that was damaged by the fire had been unused for several years and had been slated for demolition. She also noted that the owner is not seeking restitution.
“This is about the most minimal (second-degree) arson that I can imagine,” Mann said.
Sloan told the judge he may have done some bad things when he was younger, but he’s turned his life around. Now, he just wants to get past the current conviction.
Allendoerfer counted seven incidents in his life in which Sloan was involved with fire starting, and noted that Sloan ignored talking about the August fire.
“You’ve become a firebug. It is not something you move past. It’s something you have to deal with,” Allendoerfer said.
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