Teen convicted of massacre plot gets 10 months in jail

(Wendy Maeda/Globe Staff)

Kerns arrives for his hearing, escorted by a court officer.

By Emily Sweeney, Globe Staff

A former student at Marshfield High School was sentenced today to 10 months in jail for plotting in 2004 to commit a Columbine-style massacre at the school.

Tobin "Toby" Kerns, 19, was sentenced in Plymouth Juvenile Court by Judge Louis D. Coffin.

The judge handed down two 10-month jail sentences to be served concurrently for Kerns's convictions on charges of threatening to use deadly weapons and conspiracy to commit murder. The judge gave Kerns credit for five months he has already spent in jail, so he will only have to spend another five months in jail.

Marsha Chez, Toby Kerns's aunt, the lone Kerns family member who was able to attend, said, "I'm really concerned. I'm worried about his health. He looks way too skinny. My husband does criminal law, so I know what goes on in prisons. But it could have been way worse."

Authorities have said Kerns and another former student were looking for vengeance against people who had slighted them when they plotted to bring explosives to the school, padlock the doors, and kill students and staff on their hit list.

In two recent telephone interviews from the jail, Kerns denied responsibility for the plot, while repeatedly apologizing for the disruption his arrest caused, the Globe reported this morning.

"I'm sorry for anyone who's had to be involved in this. That's what I'm sorry for," he told the Globe.

More than a dozen of Kerns's friends and other supporters attended the hearing. He had faced up to 40 years in prison on the charges after his September conviction.

Kerns's family has since moved to Seattle and faces foreclosure on its 18th-century Cape-style house on Main Street because of financial strains stemming from the case.

The alleged plan was to launch an attack on April 20, 2005 to coincide with Hitler's birthday and the 1999 school shooting in Littleton, Colo. at Columbine High School. The date was moved to April 15 because of school vacations.

In September 2004, three of Kerns's fellow students went to police and told them Kerns had been planning the attack. Police arrested Kerns, who was 16 at the time, a month later and charged him as a youthful offender. Kerns has claimed he was set up by his three former friends.

Joseph Nee, one of the boys who turned Kerns in, is facing a Jan. 30 trial for his alleged role in the plot. The two others were granted immunity in exchange for their testimony.

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