Loomis church reconciles with man who caused fire there

Corrected article - we apologize for errors.  John Norris, pastor, writes: "Salem was with an unrelated teenage when the two of them burned the building. His brother was NOT involved and didn’t even know about it until the arrest. His brother came with Salem to apologize to the church and he is an upright guy."
   "We are a church that believes that justice needs to be tempered with mercy and that a reconciliation process would be healing for all involved," Congregational UCC, Loomis wrote Judge Colleen Nichols in June.  The church was asking the judge to rule that Salem Qutub not be required to pay $292,000 in restitution for causing the fire that burned down the church’s Christian Education building in 2008.
    The fire destroyed not only the building, but precious church quilts inside it.  The church’s insurance covered the whole cost of rebuilding, and the new building was dedicated last year.  But the legal process wore on.
    Salem and a friend were convicted and awaited sentencing.  Salem’s friend was a minor and was ordered to pay $1000.  Salem, now 19, was tried as an adult.  Original charges of arson were dropped when it was discovered the boys had broken in looking for food or money, and had not set the fire deliberately.
     Pastor John Norris writes, "Their attorney knew that the probable outcome for Salem would be not only the mark of infamy that the conviction would brand him with for the rest of his life and the financial burden of reparation, but guilt over a terrible mistake made as a youth that could live in his head forever.  So she took a bold step and called the church to see if they would be willing to meet with him to let him apologize face to face and explain what had happened.
  "We agreed.  When he joined the congregation for a Sunday service they saw a quiet, shy young man barely past boyhood. As they listened to him they finally understood what had happened and at last knew that the church had not been the target of a hate crime.  A nagging fear vanished.  Now it was clear that the fire was an accident and the boys had emptied every fire extinguisher trying to put it out and left not knowing that an ember would ignite and burn down the building.
  "The young man listened quietly as each person told him what the fire had meant to them personally. When every person had finished he told them that until that moment he had only thought of it as an empty building but now he saw faces of people, a community, whose lives had been impacted by the fire.  He said he was truly sorry and ashamed and offered to come back and work for the church.
  "Conversation led to understanding and eventually to compassion.  When the young man appeared in court members of the congregation made it a point to attend the hearing and speak about the impact on the congregation of meeting him eye to eye.  They asked the court to extend mercy.
  "Recently the church received a letter from the judge and with her permission we quote from that letter:  ‘It is a rare day when we get to see firsthand the results of victim-offender mediation.  The church members are an example of how a group of people committed to social justice puts their beliefs into action.  I believe that you all chose to take a very negative situation and, with an open mind and open heart, turned it into a positive, growing experience for everyone.  What a tremendous moment that must have been for everyone.  I know how the members’ statements impacted me personally in court.  I was also witness to the affect it had on (the offender).  Rarely do I get choked up, but I certainly did that day.  This situation will forever be a shining example of restorative justice.’"
     The judge was limited by law in her sentencing, but she said to Salem, as she ordered him to jail for 120 days, that non payment of the restitution would not extend that sentence.  When Salem said he wanted to do some work at the church, they engaged him in yard work.
     Church members Dusty Harrison, Diana Madoshi and Judy Rollins attended the hearing. Rollins wrote, "The judge commended the church for our willingness to participate and said she wanted us to know that what she had just seen would carry her not only for the rest of her day, but for the week. She said she couldn’t adequately express how much it had moved her.  Dusty then told the judge ‘well, your honor, the church is accepting new members’."