SANDPOINT — A Bonner County man accused of setting fire to his former wife’s house the day after their divorce was finalized was granted a withheld judgment and ordered to serve 60 days in the Bonner County Jail, court records show.

If Michael Shaun Peterson successfully completes his court-ordered obligations, Peterson can move to have a third-degree arson and a misdemeanor injury-to-child charge removed from his record. Peterson was sentenced in 1st District Court on Monday, March 26.

Peterson, 45, is accused of setting fire to his former wife’s home on Pinecrest Road on July 7, 2017. The woman was not in the home at the time, although other adults and children were, according to court documents.

An inebriated Peterson allegedly warned the occupants of the dwelling west of town that the fire had been set, a statement which was initially met with disbelief by at least one adult, court records indicate. When it was clear that a fire was indeed underway, the home was evacuated. Peterson allegedly put his 2-year-old child in his pickup, backed into another man’s vehicle and struck a barbecue.

Two adults managed to wrestle the child from Peterson’s vehicle, although a woman was struck by an open door of the moving the truck during that altercation, according to a probable cause affidavit.

Peterson was originally charged with first-degree arson for allegedly attempting to burn down an occupied dwelling. He also faced misdemeanor charges of battery, malicious injury to property injury to a child. He entered into a plea agreement which saw the dismissal of the battery and malicious injury charges dismissed in exchange for pleas to the injury-to-child charge and an amended arson charge, court records indicate.

There was no victim impact statement at the sentencing hearing and a number of people, including Sandpoint Mayor Shelby Rognstad, have vouched for the credibility of Peterson, who entered recovery following the incident, court documents show.

Judge Barbara Buchanan imposed a withheld judgment of three years, which coincides with the duration of his probation. He was also fined $500 and ordered to complete 100 hours of community service. Peterson was given credit for 11 days of pretrial incarceration and was ordered to remain in treatment.

Keith Kinnaird can be reached by email at kkinnaird@bonnercountydailybee.com and follow him on Twitter @KeithDailyBee.