Nassau Man Pleads Guilty To Setting Fire That Injured Girl

A Hempstead man pleaded guilty yesterday to setting a 2016 house fire that left a 12-year-old girl permanently injured after she had to jump out of second-story window to escape the flames.

Christful Fouse, 36, pleaded guilty to second-degree arson. He is expected to be sentenced to 12 years in prison and five years post-release supervision on Feb. 3.

On Nov. 20, Fouse had been indicted on multiple charges: first-, second- and third-degree arson, first- and second-degree assault and first-degree reckless endangerment.

“This defendant nearly killed an innocent 12-year-old girl by setting fire to an occupied house,” said Nassau County District Attorney Madeline Singas. “Unfortunately, this young woman will have to live with the injuries she suffered that day for the rest of her life because of the heartless actions of this defendant. This plea ensures that Christful Fouse will be held accountable for his intentional behavior.”

According to Singas, around 9:20 a.m. on June 30, 2016, Fouse entered a home on Long Beach Road in Hempstead and got into a fight with three people inside, and then left the home. He returned 10 to 15 minutes later with a water bottle filled with gasoline, poured the gas onto a couch on the first floor, and then lit it on fire.

The fire quickly engulfed the home, and required a response from eight fire departments to put out the blaze.

When Fouse set the fire, a 12-year-old girl was sleeping in an upstairs bedroom. One of the men in the house tried to wake her, but her door was locked and she did not respond.

The girl awoke when she heard fire alarms and realized the house was on fire. To escape, she had to climb out of a second-story window and jump to the ground. Her landing fractured her spine and caused several fractures to her right foot, which left her with a permanent limp.

The girl, now 16, had screws and other medical hardware implanted in her foot, and will have them for the rest of her life. No one else was injured by the fire.

Fouse fled the scene of the fire. He was arrested in Hempstead on March 16, 2019 by the Nassau County Police Department.