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Summit Academy students in court for escape

Three Summit Academy students Thursday acknowledged they escaped the reform school in Summit Township last month in a stolen car belonging to a teacher.

Three Summit Academy students Thursday acknowledged they escaped the reform school in Summit Township last month in a stolen car belonging to a teacher.

State police accused one of the suspects — a 16-year-old Philadelphia boy — of removing the vehicle keys from the teacher's pocket July 27.

He and the other two students — a 15-year-old Delaware County boy and a 16-year-old state of Delaware boy — then ran out of the facility on Herman Road.

The Butler Eagle is not identifying the boys because of their ages.

The youths' admissions were made during a juvenile court hearing before Butler County Judge Timothy McCune.

It will be at least another week before they learn their punishments.

Police filed a list of charges against the teens, who were placed in the Jefferson County Juvenile Detention Center in Steubenville, Ohio.

Each boy appeared in court Thursday for his pre-adjudication conference, which is similar to a status conference in adult court.

They had the option to fight the charges at a later adjudication hearing, the equivalent of a trial in adult court, or admit to charges — similar to a guilty plea.

Read the full story in the Butler Eagle.

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