Woman who torched Chino church is released from jail after pleading guilty
A woman who was held on suspicion of setting fire to a church last year pleaded guilty to arson charges this week and was released from jail.
Robin Elaine Whaley, a transient, had been charged with setting fire to the Chino United Methodist Church on April 25, 2007, causing more than $1 million in damage.
Whaley, 49, was also charged with attempted arson for trying to set fire to Chino Spanish Seventh-day Adventist Church on April 22, 2007. That fire failed to catch, authorities said.
According to police reports in her court file, Whaley may have been upset at the United Methodist Church, 5201 Riverside Drive, because church leaders asked her to stop sleeping there.
Whaley told a Chino police officer she was angry that the Seventh-day Adventist Church, 12986 Central Ave., refused to allow her to preach there, according to the police report.
As part of a plea agreement reached with prosecutors Tuesday in Chino Superior Court, Whaley agreed to plead guilty to arson and vehicle theft.
When she was arrested last year she was driving a stolen van that had two gas cans and matches in it, said Deputy District Attorney Steve Mitchell.
Prosecutors agreed to dismiss the attempted arson charge, Mitchell said.
Mitchell said Whaley's plea agreement included one year of jail time and three years' probation.
Because Whaley had been in custody since her April 25, 2007 arrest, she was released from jail Tuesday night, according to online records.
The United Methodist Church has been in Chino for about 113 years. It suffered substantial structural damage and smoke damage in the fire, but it was not destroyed.
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