Arson suspect held without bail following St. Joseph Catholic Church fire in Salem

Dianne Lugo, Salem Statesman Journal
·2 min read
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Billy James Sweeten Jr., 48, was scheduled to be arraigned Friday on two first-degree arson charges related to the four-alarm fire that significantly damaged St. Joseph Catholic Church early Thursday morning.

But Judge Matthew Tracey said Sweeten, who is being held in jail, "refused to engage" in the arraignment process and so scheduled another arraignment hearing for Tuesday.

Sweeten is accused of intentionally starting the fire at 721 Chemeketa St. NE.

Emergency responders arrived at about 2:30 a.m. at the church after multiple 911 calls and found tall flames from a dumpster fire had spread to the roof of the church, officials said.

Several inches of standing water and debris fill the floors of the church after a structure fire at St. Joseph Catholic Church on Aug. 31 in Salem.
Several inches of standing water and debris fill the floors of the church after a structure fire at St. Joseph Catholic Church on Aug. 31 in Salem.

Deputy Chief Brian Carrara said 20 apparatus and approximately 70 firefighters were involved in the response. Crews initially attempted to fight the fire from inside the church, but they had to retreat after 30 minutes and take a defensive approach from the roof, Carrara said. Firefighters began venting the roof at about 3:22 a.m. and stopped further spread by 5 a.m.

St. Joseph is Salem's oldest Catholic parish, established in the 1800s. The current version of its church was built in 1953. Hundreds gathered at noon Thursday for Mass in the parking lot. The connected school was undamaged and is expected to begin classes as scheduled on Tuesday.

Sweeten Jr. has an extensive criminal history dating to 1993 including forgery, robbery, drug charges and misdemeanor harassment charges.

He faced misdemeanor reckless burning charges in May 2021, accused of damaging personal property by fire, but those charges were dismissed following a plea deal. He had a warrant out for his arrest on Thursday after failing to appear in court for an unrelated case where he is accused of unlawful entry of a motor vehicle and second-degree criminal mischief.

He was scheduled to be arraigned on those misdemeanor charges on Friday as well.

Sweeten Jr. is being held without bail for the arson charges at the Marion County Jail. The state cited Sweeten Jr.'s 138 arrests and more 40 convictions in the request for no bail.

This article originally appeared on Salem Statesman Journal: Salem church arson suspect Billy Sweeten Jr. held without bail