April 3, 2014
Sex Offender Sets Fire to Lesbians' Trailer, Faces Hate Crime Charges
Jason St. Amand READ TIME: 1 MIN.
A registered sex offender who lives at a South Florida trailer park has been charged with setting fire to another trailer, where a lesbian couple and eight children live.
Miami-Dade police say video footage shows 73-year-old Braulio Valenzuela-Villanueva setting fire to a mattress that was leaning against his neighbors' home early Saturday morning at the River Park Trailer Court. The Miami Herald (http://goo.gl/J1adgb ) reports he was arrested Monday and charged with attempted second-degree murder, arson and a hate crime.
Police say Valenzuela-Villanueva didn't admit to setting the fire but said he despised the two women and believed they didn't deserve children.
No injuries were reported from the fire.
State records show Valenzuela-Villanueva has previous convicts for grand theft and child molestation. Jail records show he was being held on $230,000 bail.
