'Slender Man': Police Say Fictional Character Inspired Teenage Girl to Set Her Home on Fire
Florida police believe the fictional character Slender-Man may have inspired a 14-year-old girl to set her family's house on fire while her mom and brother were sleeping.
The 7th-grader admitted to police that she tried to kill her mother and 9-year-old brother by burning down their home in Port Richey because she was upset about being disciplined around her bed time, reports WTSP.
According to a Pasco Sheriff's Office police report, the teen soaked a towel and bed sheet in bleach and rum before lighting it on fire in her garage. She then fled to a nearby park and fell asleep in a public bathroom.
Once firefighters arrived on the scene, they put the blaze out and made repeated attempts to search the home looking for the girl. Eventually, she sent her mother a text message apologizing for the act, writing, "Mom Im so sorry I dont know why I did it" and "Did any of u get hurt."
The girl, who has not been identified, was then arrested and charged her with arson and two counts of attempted murder.
During the investigation, she confessed to visiting the websites Creepypasta.com and SoulEater.com to read stories about "Slenderman," a fictional horror character.
Although investigators have no evidence to believe that she set the home on fire because of the violence found in Slender Man stories, authorities warned parents to be aware of the content that their kids consume online.
"There's a part in this book where two characters get into a fight with each other," Sheriff Chris Nocco said at a news conference on Thursday. "All of a sudden, that clicked something in her mind and she decided she was going to kill her family."
"She had visited the website that contains a lot of the Slender Man information and stories," Eddie Daniels of the Pasco Sheriff's Office told ABC News. "It would be safe to say there is a connection to that."
Officials also confiscated a journal belonging to the teen which included handwritten notes talking about "killing," along with the words "If this keeps up there will be no one safe in this house" and "Mom if you ever find this before it happens Im sorry..."
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