By Belinda Nolan
A 14-YEAR-old girl is fighting for her life after being raped and burned during a house fire in Caroline Springs last week.
The teenager remains in a critical condition in the Royal Children’s Hospital, after being placed in an induced coma with burns to more than 70 per cent of her body.
Tarneit man Michael Hermogenes was charged with attempted murder after police tracked him down using social networking website Facebook.
The 24-year-old has also been charged with rape, sexual penetration of a child, aggravated burglary, criminal damage by fire, reckless conduct endangering life and intentionally causing serious injury. Officers from the Caroline Springs Police Station were on a routine patrol last week when they noticed smoke billowing out of a Landers St home about 2 pm.
Firefighters from the Melton CFA were dispatched to the scene where they found the teenager unconscious in an upstairs bathroom.
Forensic detectives examined the scene and concluded that the fire had been deliberately lit.
After speaking with the girl’s friends, police used Facebook to identify Hermogenes as a suspect.
He was later apprehended in Hoppers Crossing.
During an out-of-sessions court hearing at The Alfred hospital, police told a magistrate Hermogenes had admitted to bringing food and alcohol to the girl’s home on Monday morning.
Police allege he drove to a nearby BP petrol station where he bought fuel, returning to the girl’s house and pouring it throughout the house before turning on the gas stove.
According to the police report, he then lit the fuel and received severe burns to his own legs in the process before fleeing the scene.
He was placed under an armed guard at The Alfred hospital while he recovered from his injuries.
He was remanded in custody amid police fears that he posed an unacceptable danger to the public. He is due to appear at the Melbourne Magistrates’ Court for a committal hearing on 27th August.
