YOUNGSTOWN — Caleb Vancampen, 24, who destroyed 16 statues outside Our Lady of Mount Carmel Basilica in Youngstown in 2021 and received treatment for mental health issues as part of his plea agreement, was sentenced Wednesday to 146 days in prison for a probation violation.

The sentence was actually 18 months in prison, but Vancampen got credit for 399 days previously locked up, leaving him with 146 left to serve.

Mahoning County Common Pleas Court Judge Anthony D’Apolito said “there is no doubt, Caleb, that you have mental health issues. I’ve known that from the first time you were in front of me.” But it’s also obvious that “we tried to help you with that condition,” D’Apolito said. He listed several facilities where efforts were made to help Vancampen. And he was given a chance in a program called treatment in lieu of conviction. “But at the end of the day, the community is more of a priority than any one person, the safety of the people who live here,” the judge said. D’Apolito said he thinks Vancampen does not mean to hurt anyone, but he does “exhibit behavior that can do that.”

Vancampen’s most recent violation was being charged with drug and traffic offenses in September in Trumbull County. One of the charges, a felony drug offense, was recently bound over to Trumbull County Common Pleas Court. Vancampen had a Warren address at the time.

Vancampen has been in the Mahoning County jail on the probation violation since Jan. 27. D’Apolito issued a warrant for Vancampen’s arrest Jan. 24 because of the newest allegations, according to court records.

A recent document filed with the judge by the Ohio Adult Parole Authority, which oversees Vancampen’s supervision, detailed Vancampen’s alleged violations.

One was having in his possession or control amphetamine / dextroamphetamine and alprazolam. Another was driving a motor vehicle under the influence of a controlled substance and another was failing to control his vehicle — all on or about Sept. 9 in Trumbull County.

He also failed to report to his supervising officer at the Adult Parole Authority that he had an encounter with law enforcement Sept. 9 as a result of the criminal charges, the document states.

Vancampen also had a probation violation in April 2023 that resulted in an assessment being carried out. D’Apolito at that time allowed Vancampen to continue in a Treatment in Lieu of Conviction program and ordered him to complete a program at Burdman Home.

Vancampen was 20 and homeless when he was charged with destroying statues outside of the basilica on Feb. 26, 2021. The episode was captured on church surveillance video. Vancampen previously had an East Palestine address, according to records at the time.

Church officials estimated the damage to the statues was $60,000 to $65,000. All but $1,250 of the cost to replace them was paid by insurance, church officials said. Replacement statues from Italy were installed in September 2021, according to Vindicator files.

Vancampen pleaded guilty in February 2022 to one count of felony vandalism and was ordered to enter a mental-health-treatment program that would allow him to have his conviction erased if he completed the program successfully. He was ordered to complete a program of at least one year at a high intensity mental health residential treatment facility and then have outpatient counseling and other services.

Vancampen’s attorney, David Gerchak, asked the judge Wednesday to try to get Vancampen into a program through the Community Corrections Association of Youngstown and mentioned that one problem Vancampen had was having $19,000 given directly to him some months ago. Gerchak did not say why Vancampen got the money.

“It never should have been dispersed to him directly,” Gerchak said. “A mentally ill man in his early 20s walking out of a group home with $19,000 in his pocket was probably the worst thing in the world for somebody. He didn’t know what to do. He was unable to survive.”

Vancampen also spoke, saying he thinks he will be able to live alone and sustain a job “under the right circumstances.” But he will need to be on the right medications. He said he was “self-medicating because of my PTSD. I was dealing with nightmares, and my brother had just ended his own life. Those were very traumatizing things for me.”