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District Attorney Decides To Go Easy On Accused Teen Bomber

BOULDER, Colo. (CBS4) - The Boulder County District Attorney has decided to send the case of a teen accused of planting a pipe bomb in Centaurus High School last May to juvenile court rather than adult court.

Authorities arrested and originally charged the 16-year-old student as an adult but the Boulder County DA says that conversations with those involved helped keep this case in juvenile court.

"Police officers, the bomb squad, the federal authorities, and the school district and their opinion were very important to us," said Boulder County DA Stan Garnett who says his office has an obligation to public safety first but in a juvenile case, by statute, they are required to look at what's in the best interest of the child.

"If he is found guilty he would have to do a combination of treatment and consequences that will A) protect the community but B) give this young man the opportunity to finish his education and move forward with a productive life," said Garnett.

Police have testified that the homemade device with a nine volt battery could have hurt people. The defense was going to be that it was all a prank and nobody was meant to get hurt. Garnett says all this was taken into account when making his decision.

Charges against the student will remain the same. He faces attempted murder, possession of explosives and felony menacing.

The maximum penalty the student now faces in juvenile court is five years. If he was tried as an adult it could have been up to 48 years in prison.

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