Corning House Fire - Owner facing federal charges of child molestation

Molestation suspect's house burns Tuesday

By Julie R. Johnson/Staff writer

The Richfield home of a Corning man facing federal charges of child molestation was heavily damaged by fire Tuesday.

“As I was on my way to Red Bluff, I received a call from Jayne (Endicott) who was at work ... saying my dad’s house was on fire,” said Bert Endicott, the adopted son of Thomas Endicott. Jayne Endicott is the ex-wife of Bert Endicott. Thomas Endicott was arrested March 30 in Red Bluff.

The 71-year-old former owner of Endicott Trucking is being held without bail in Sacramento. He faces federal charges of transporting a child across state lines for the intent of engaging in sexual activity.

Bert Endicott said when he arrived at the 6496 Monterey Ave. home, the garage was fully engulfed and part of the home was on fire.

“When I got here no one was here, so I called 911,” he said. Firefighters arrived within minutes after dispatch got the call around 11:20 a.m. and were able to stop the flames from burning the south end of the home.

“The garage is completely destroyed, as is the roof and attic area,” Cal Fire Operations Chief Jack Lefort said. “We have downed power lines, and it looks like about three-quarters of the structure is either destroyed or damaged.”

PG&E arrived and disconnected the power lines as firefighters continued fighting the blaze.

“We cannot determine at this time how the fire started, but we can say it appears to have started in the garage. What the cause is will remain unknown for possibly two to three days as we sift through the debris in the garage area,” said Lefort. “At this time we cannot rule anything out, whether it is suspicious circumstances or not.”

According to Bert Endicott, there was nothing in the garage except a few tools and an air compressor. No one has lived in the home since Thomas Endicott was arrested.

“I have been coming over here almost every day to feed the horses,” Bert Endicott said. “I hadn’t seen anything suspicious, so I don’t know how this started.”

As of Tuesday afternoon, Bert Endicott said he had not yet contacted his father to tell him about the fire. “He’s not doing very well so I don’t know how this is going to affect him,” he said.

Thomas Endicott was arrested after a federal grand jury indicted him in March for incidents involving four of the five alleged victims in a prior case when Endicott was arrested in 2006 by the Tehama County Sheriff’s Department on suspicion of sexually abusing children. Following a monthlong trial in 2007 that included the testimony of the five alleged victims, a jury acquitted him of 14 felony sex abuse counts and deadlocked on 11 others.

If convicted on the federal charges, Endicott faces a maximum sentence of life in prison, with a mandatory minimum of 10 years in prison, a $250,000 fine, and a life term of supervised release, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Sacramento.

Source: www.corning-observer.com - Link
Photo credit: Julie R. Johnson