A Cottage Grove man will be on probation for five years for setting fire last year to the future home of a convicted sex offender.Fifty-one-year-old Russell Speigle also will serve three months in jail.Speigle apologized to his family and neighbors at his sentencing Friday. The Wisconsin State Journal reports he said he takes full responsibility for the fire.Speigle lived near the home where the sex offender was to live. He and his neighbors had fought the decision by state authorities to place the offender in the home.Initially, Speigle denied setting the Feb. 22, 2015 fire, despite burns that police saw on his face. But last month he pleaded no contest to arson.The house has been repaired, but the offender lives elsewhere.Get the WISN 12 NEWS app

A Cottage Grove man will be on probation for five years for setting fire last year to the future home of a convicted sex offender.



Fifty-one-year-old Russell Speigle also will serve three months in jail.




Speigle apologized to his family and neighbors at his sentencing Friday. The Wisconsin State Journal reports he said he takes full responsibility for the fire.



Speigle lived near the home where the sex offender was to live. He and his neighbors had fought the decision by state authorities to place the offender in the home.



Initially, Speigle denied setting the Feb. 22, 2015 fire, despite burns that police saw on his face. But last month he pleaded no contest to arson.



The house has been repaired, but the offender lives elsewhere.



