PYRITES — Anthony M. Leonard says he didn't have any accomplices when vandalizing St. Paul's Oratory.

The 17-year-old Pyrites resident, who lived a block from the oratory, told St. Lawrence County sheriff's investigators he alone caused the extensive damage over several days, according to court records. He didn't damage anything inside the church on his first two visits, but became destructive on subsequent trips.

The damage included all of the exterior doors being nailed shut from the inside, several stained-glass windows being smashed and all of the pads from the pew kneelers being ripped off. A majority of the kneeling pads were individually nailed across the top of two oak pews closest to the altar to form a crude shelter or fort.

The teen didn't offer any reasons behind the destructive rampage, just an apology.

"I am very sorry for what I did, and I wish I could take it back," said Mr. Leonard in concluding his statement.

Mr. Leonard told investigators he broke into the building through the back door and spent about two hours inside before heading out and telling two friends what he did.

He showed the two friends later that day around the inside of the small cobblestone Gothic-style chapel on Pink School House Road. The trio was inside the church for a while, but didn't do any damage. It was apparently the lone time the other boys had stepped inside the oratory.

He reportedly went back the next day to play the organ, which he couldn't turn on, and lit some candles before leaving.

On the third day, he smashed several stained-glass windows from the inside but had trouble cleaning up the glass with a vacuum. He also used a hammer to put a few holes into a wall and set off a fire extinguisher.

He returned a few days later and ripped out the pew kneelers and used the plywood backings of the kneelers to board up several doorways.

"I then nailed the front door shut and took a door off the inside of the church, brought it inside and placed it against the altar," he said in his statement.

Mr. Leonard also drove nails into various objects and used a hammer to break off the beard and nose of Jesus Christ on two panels of the Stations of the Cross and the nose on a small statue of Mary.

During his last visit, he continued damaging the church but had planned on staying overnight under the kneeling pads nailed across the top two pews closest to the altar that formed a crude shelter or fort. He never stayed overnight.

The oratory's caretaker discovered the damage Thursday evening. Caretaker Edward K. White told investigators he last checked the building July 21. A cost estimate of the damage wasn't available.

The chapel ceased having regular services in 1988 because of a priest shortage and lack of parishioners. Stanislaus J. Brzana, who was then the bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Ogdensburg, designated the building an oratory in 1990.

The building hosts only two Masses a year and a few special events, such as weddings or funerals, church leaders said last week.

Mr. Leonard, of 72 Church Hill St., was charged Friday with third-degree burglary and second-degree criminal mischief. He was arraigned in Canton Town Court and sent to the St. Lawrence County jail, Canton, on $2,500 cash bail or $5,000 bond. He wasn't in custody Monday night.

Investigators believe other teens were involved in the destruction of the oratory. Sheriff Kevin M. Wells said Monday that the investigation is continuing.

Anyone with information about the St. Paul's vandalism is asked to contact the Sheriff's Department at 379-2222.