By the time the fire was put out around 4:30 p.m., the right side of the house was charred beyond recognition, and some deck boards had burned to the point where they shriveled up.

"The defendant was a complete stranger who allegedly used a mobile app to gain access to a child for his own sick benefit," Suffolk County District Attorney Raymond Tierney said.

The vandal's destruction came one day before Jewish New Yorker Elias Rosner, 35, was stabbed by a hate-spewing man.

Wei Hou, 41, was tracked to the Castle Inn in Schodack, just south of Albany, and taken into custody after a brief Christmas Eve standoff.

Smith leaves behind a 3-year-old son who will now be raised by her grief-stricken parents.

The tragic death of an elderly woman in East Harem was part of a freak crash that involved 11 vehicles and took down a scaffolding that killed the victim.