Teen pleads guilty but mentally ill in Lake in the Hills arson case

WOODSTOCK – A Lake in the Hills teenager with "severe" mental illness was sentenced to prison time for setting fire to his parent's home.

Wesley P. Streit Jr., 19, pleaded guilty but mentally ill to aggravated arson, a Class X felony. Assistant State's Attorney David Johnston said Streit on Aug. 5, 2014, set fire to his parent's Lake in the Hills home knowing they were inside.

McHenry County Judge Gordon Graham found that Streit was mentally ill at the time of the offense. Streit's defense attorney said the fire was a suicide attempt.

Pleading guilty but mentally ill means that Streit will be afforded mental health treatment while in the Illinois Department of Corrections. He was sentenced to six years in prison, the mandatory minimum for the crime.

His defense attorney, Phil Prossnitz, blasted the state's access to mental health care after the plea deal went through.

"There is absolutely no mental health services in the state," Prossnitz said. "Aside from short-term, five-day programs, the largest mental health provider in the state of Illinois is the Department of Corrections."

Streit is eligible for day-for-day credit and already has logged about nine months in the McHenry County Jail awaiting trial. His prison term will be followed by three years of parole.

Streit's parent's Lake in the Hills home was deemed uninhabitable after the fire.