A Franklin Lakes man charged with setting fire to Most Blessed Sacrament Church in December 2019 was found not guilty by reason of insanity on Monday.
During the 2-1/2-hour hearing before Judge Robert Vinci, psychiatrist Steven Simring characterized James Mayers as religiously preoccupied and said he was hoping to reach religious purity by setting fire to the church without expecting its complete destruction.
After the hearing in Superior Court in Bergen County, Mayers, 27, was ordered committed to Greystone Park Psychiatric Hospital in Morris Plains for what remains of an estimated 30-year sentence on combined charges of first-degree aggravated arson and third-degree burglary. He will remain under court supervision until December 2049.