A 15-year-old boy from Cape Elizabeth is facing two felony charges after police found bomb-making materials in the basement of his home.

The Cumberland County District Attorney has charged the boy with criminal use of explosives and reckless conduct with a dangerous weapon, both class C felonies. He will be prosecuted as a juvenile.

The Current’s policy prohibits naming juveniles charged in criminal cases except for those juveniles charged with the most serious felony charges.

His arraignment, where he is expected to deny the charges, is scheduled for May 25 at 8:30 a.m. at the Cumberland County Courthouse.

If he is found guilty, the boy could be given the maximum penalty for a crime of this caliber, incarceration at the Long Creek Youth Development Center until age 21. Assistant District Attorney Christine Thibeault said this punishment is unlikely, given the boy’s history.

Richard Berne, the boy’s lawyer, could not be reached for comment for this story.

Thibeault said to her knowledge this is the first time the boy has been charged with a crime. Most juveniles who are convicted of a first offense do not receive the maximum punishment, she said.

However, Thibeault said the District Attorney’s office did say charges of this nature would be taken seriously. “This action put a lot of people at risk,” she said.

Cameron Gale, a beachfront resident, first discovered the bomb June 12, when he was on the beach collecting trash with his daughter. Assuming it was litter, he picked it up and tossed it into his daughter’s sand pail. Gale spent about five hours on the beach with the un-detonated bomb lying beside his beach towel.

Upon further investigation later at home, Gale realized it was not just a piece of litter. He then handed it over to Cape Elizabeth police who identified it as an explosive and began investigating.

A few days later, an anonymous tip, relayed through a lawyer, led police to the boy’s home, where, with a search warrant, they discovered bomb-making materials in the basement. Among the items found were copper pipes and caps, wires, fuses and a wooden rack for holding the pipes.

The boy was arrested June 15 and charged with criminal use of explosives. The boy’s mother, who received a box from a “supermarket for pyrotechnics professionals” at the Old Port company where she works, was not charged.

A video of the boy detonating bombs on the beach was also discovered after his arrest. One of three other juveniles on the beach that night revealed the existence of the video in a recorded statement taken three days after the boy’s arrest.

Thibeault described a class C felony as the lowest class felony out of five. Class A is the highest.

District Attorney Stephanie Anderson said, if the boy is convicted, the conviction could prevent the boy from pursuing military service.

Anderson wasn’t certain in what other ways a conviction could “disable” his pursuits.

“It could be he didn’t understand what he was doing, but he still endangered people,” said Anderson.

Peers have described the boy as artistic, but quiet. At school, they say, he kept to himself.

In a past interview, Olivia Weill, a fellow art club member at Cape High, said the boy “always seemed pleasant, never…rude,” and made some “really pretty stuff” in art club.