By cimaron neugebauer

| The Salt Lake Tribune

Ogden • A 16-year-old boy — one of two students accused in a plot to bomb Roy High School — will remain in juvenile detention for now, a judge said Friday.

Sitting between his parents, the teen was quiet with his hands in his lap while appearing in court via video from the Weber Valley Detention Center.

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Defense attorney Scott Nickle asked 2nd District Juvenile Judge Janice Frost to release the teen to the custody of his parents, claiming he posed no real safety or flight risk.

Nickle said the teen is part of an "intact family" who are "very supportive" and willing to do anything to help him.

Nickle suggested an ankle monitoring system or some other kind of supervision. He also said the teen needed psychiatric help to get back on his medication, and that he needed to finish online high school courses.

Frost told Nickle the juvenile court doesn’t currently have its own ankle monitoring system.

But she said court authorities would look into other possibilities, adding that "the seriousness of the [alleged] offense" was not something that would normally allow for home detention.

Frost did grant the teen furloughs from the detention center so his parents can transport him to and from mental health visits. She also said the detention center could provide online access for the teen to do his classwork.

Deputy Weber County attorney Letitia Toombs said there was a "risk to the community" to consider if the teen is released. Toombs also said that given the recent media attention on the case, it may be in the teen’s best interest and safety to stay in detention.

The teen — who is to appear for a scheduling conference Feb. 8 — is charged with one count of use or attempted use of a weapon of mass destruction, a first-degree felony. The Salt Lake Tribune generally does not name juveniles charged with crimes.

Toombs previously filed a motion seeking to have the teen tried as an adult.

After Friday’s hearing, Toombs said that although the teen "is the juvenile in the matter, but that doesn’t necessarily mean he is less culpable."

The 16-year-old’s alleged co-conspirator, 18-year-old Dallin Todd Morgan, has been charged in adult court with an identical count of use or attempted use of a weapon of mass destruction.

Morgan, who is free on $10,000 bail, made his first court appearance Wednesday and is to appear before 2nd District Judge Michael Lyon on Feb. 23.

Police said they arrested the teens after other students came forward, concerned about text messages sent by the 16-year-old.

The teens, both Roy High seniors, allegedly planned to set off a bomb during a school assembly, then steal an airplane and fly to another country.

Searches by police turned up no explosives. However, the statute with which the teens are charged includes the language "... or conspires to use a weapon of mass destruction …"