Two teens arrested in connection with church arson

STANARDSVILLE — Ruckersville Baptist Church Pastor Kyle Clements’ home phone rang late again Wednesday, just three days after receiving a middle-of-the-night call notifying him that his church was on fire.

This time when the phone rang it was good news.

Greene County Sheriff J. Scott Haas was calling to report the arrest of two people, including a juvenile, on charges of breaking into and setting the church on fire Sunday.

Sean Douglas Heiderscheidt, 18, of Barboursville, and a 17-year-old male juvenile from Ruckersville have each been charged with arson with the intent to commit a felony, breaking and entering of a church with the intent to commit a felony, felony vandalism of a cemetery and misdemeanor vandalism of a church, according to the Greene County Sheriff’s Office.

Both Heiderscheidt and the juvenile remain in custody after appearing in court Thursday. Heiderscheidt is being held at the Central Virginia Regional Jail in Orange and the juvenile is being held at the Blue Ridge Juvenile Detention Center in Albemarle County.

Clements, who has been concerned those responsible for damaging his church might return, said the arrests have brought some relief. He said neither of the young men arrested had previously attended the church and investigators did not release any details on a motive in the case.

Although there was talk early on that the suspects might be young adults or juveniles, Clements said he refused to believe it until an arrest was made.

“I have faith in all our youth,” Clements said. “We try to have a youth ministry in the church, but we don’t have a youth pastor because we’re a small congregation. I don’t like to stereotype that young people are bad.”

In separate hearings in Greene County Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court on Thursday, prosecutors said both Heiderscheidt and the juvenile had prior run-ins with law enforcement.

Both teenagers were denied bail.

Heiderscheidt appeared at his hearing in handcuffs, outfitted in the gray stripes of the Central Virginia Regional Jail. He stood quietly with his eyes downcast as Judge Susan Whitlock deemed him a threat to the community.

“He had contact with psychological testing nine years ago for anger and violence,” Greene County Commonwealth’s Attorney Ronald Morris had told the judge just moments before. “In 2006 authorities were asked to investigate the possibility that he was making a pipe bomb. In 2008 he was investigated for larceny of a family member. And in 2009, a protective order was requested after he struck his father on the head.”

Prior to the fire, acts of desecration and vandalism had been committed off and on for two weeks at the church. Those include: the cutting of wires to the building’s air conditioning units; tampering with a thermostat; the breaking of stained-glass windows; and damage to sound system equipment and other church items.

In addition, the nearby Ruckersville Cemetery, which is not connected to the church, was damaged. More than 20 headstones were knocked down and some were destroyed.

The juvenile appeared in court via a television monitor from the juvenile facility. His only words were: “I have to go to work.” At one point, he waved at the camera, and at another, he yawned.

Whitlock dubbed him also a threat to the community.

The latest charges against Heiderscheidt and the juvenile stem from Sunday’s arson at the church and vandalism at the nearby cemetery, Greene County sheriff’s Major Randall Snead said Thursday. It was the third vandalism at the church and the second at the cemetery in recent weeks.

Investigators are continuing to investigate the other acts of vandalism and have not confirmed if the cases are related.

“We’re continuing to work the case and additional charges could be pending,” Snead said. He said investigators are not expecting additional arrests to be made.

Firefighters and sheriff’s deputies were called to the church around 2 a.m. Sunday to a fire in the front part of the building. Firefighters were able to contain the fire to the sanctuary of the church, but a second fire caused by burning embers the next night destroyed the church’s steeple.

The two fires caused heavy structural damage to the sanctuary and smoke damage throughout the building.

Haas said the case was solved by old-fashioned detective work, with investigators following up on leads and talking with people.

“We have a lot of sympathy for the whole congregation of this church and we wanted to solve this case,” Haas said.

Clements and his wife, Martha, attended the court hearings Thursday morning and heard details about the two young men charged with damaging their church. The Clements both agreed that now the priority is to focus on continuing to heal their congregation and rebuilding their church home.

Services will be held behind the church on Sunday and Clements hopes to soon be able to use the church fellowship hall, which had some smoke damage.

It’s still not known how long it will take to repair the sanctuary or if it is beyond repair and will have to be torn down and reconstructed.

“Our church just thanks the community for all of the love and support they’ve given us,” Clements said. “We will not let this act break our spirits.”

Heiderscheidt is scheduled to appear in court Oct. 6 and the juvenile is scheduled to appear in juvenile court Sept. 16.

Susan Gibbs reports for the Greene County Record.