Boy Set on Fire

July 20, 2011 permalink

Most abuse in foster care comes not from foster parents and social workers, but from other children. Usually we have only statistical reports, but here is an actual case of a boy setting another foster boy on fire.

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Boy accused of setting foster child on fire

Posted: Updated: July 20, 2011 10:23 AM EDT

PORT CHARLOTTE, FL -

A 13-year-old boy was arrested Tuesday after he reportedly lit another boy on fire inside a Port Charlotte home.

Nicholas Portalatin of Port Charlotte was arrested on a charge of Aggravated Battery.

Around 2:30 p.m. Tuesday, deputies responded to the home, located on Corktree Circle, after receiving a call about a battery that had just occurred there, according to an arrest report.

Dee Hardin, the permanent foster mother of the victim, told deputies that she was in the living room Tuesday afternoon, when she heard the victim yell that his shirt was on fire, the report said.

Hardin reportedly rushed to the boy, took off his shirt and then quickly put out the fire. He sustained two burns to his arm, and was later taken for treatment.

The victim told investigators that he and Portalatin, who had just been placed in the home, were sitting on the couch, when he pulled a lighter from his pocket and ignited the victim's shirt.

According to the report, the boy said he spotted Portalatin earlier in the day using the lighter and a can of Lysol to make a flame thrower in the house.

Portalatin said he was playing with the lighter but didn't intend to light the boy's shirt on fire.

Portalatin's case worker told deputies that Portalatin recently had been released from juvenile detention and didn't want to stay at the home.

Source: WZVN-TV