Man Set Trailer Home Ablaze After Believing Child Abuser Lived There, Police Say

A Florida man was recently arrested after he allegedly set a trailer park home on fire because he believed that a child abuser lived there, according to police.

According to an Ocala Police Department arrest report, which was provided to Newsweek, the man was identified as 42-year-old Kenneth Bryant and he was arrested at his home in the Wagon Wheel Mobile Home Park on Monday in Ocala, Florida.

The arrest report stated that on December 3, an officer with the Ocala Police Department was called to the mobile home park following reports of a "suspicious fire." The fire caused minor damage to the trailer home but an official with the Ocala Fire Department informed the officer that a small pile of paper and a cigarette lighter appeared to be located within the remains of the fire after it was extinguished.

While speaking with the Ocala Police Department, the victim of the fire explained that while he wasn't home when it occurred, he believed that his neighbor, Bryant, started it "based off of the rumor that he [the mobile home owner] is a child molester," the police report said.

Officers attempted to speak with Bryant after the fire, but they spoke with one of his neighbor's, who told police that they believed Bryant started the fire because he thought the victim was a "pedophile," the report said.

On December 10, a woman who identified herself as Bryant's aunt called police and told them that Bryant was afraid to return to his trailer home in the Wagon Wheel Mobile Home Park. When police asked why Bryant's aunt said that she thinks he was the one who started the fire at the victim's trailer home earlier this month.

According to the police report, Bryant's aunt told officers that on the day of the incident, "Bryant stated several times to her 'let it burn,' after the fire had been ignited."

Bryant's aunt also told officers that she believed the fire was started because of the rumor that the victim was a child molester, the police report said.

After he was arrested, Bryant was interviewed by police where he stated that he was at the Wagon Wheel Mobile Home Park on the day of the incident. Bryant also told police that while he doesn't remember the exact incident, "due to his intoxication levels," he noted that he was not "fond" of the victim "due to the rumors of him being a child molester," the report said.

Bryant was eventually taken to the Marion County Jail without incident, according to the police report.

Online arrest records from the Marion County Sheriff's Office showed that Bryant is facing first-degree arson charges.