An arson charge has been filed against a Durant man following an investigation by the Durant police and fire departments into a fire that burned a vacant house.

Samuel Joe Taylor, 39, Durant, is charged with second-degree arson.

According to an affidavit by Durant Police Detective Rocky McDaniel, the fire department asked police to assist in the investigation of an arson fire at a vacant home at 215 S.E. Fifth Ave.

The house did not have utility services, the affidavit states, and Taylor had been observed leaving the area moments before the fire started.

Police took Taylor in for questioning after the fire was put out and according to the affidavit, he was brought to the police station for questioning.

During the interview, Taylor eventually confessed, the affidavit states, and when asked why, he said he had taken numerous Xanax pills, and while walking home, he saw the house was vacant, so he walked inside, lit a hand full of papers and threw them into the corner where more assorted papers were stacked.

He said he waited about 15 minutes in the alley until he saw flames, and he then returned to his residence at 119 E. Texas St., according to the affidavit. A warrant has been issued for his arrest.

In other crimes, Cody Dean Green, 34, Calera, has been charged with lewd molestation. He came under investigation after Calera Assistant Police Chief T.J. White was notified on Feb. 22 that a six-year-old boy had been fondled.

An affidavit states that during an interview on Feb. 25, the boy disclosed he had been touched by Green.

Green had already been arrested and charged in an unrelated sexual abuse case before this one was filed. He was charged Feb. 21 with child sexual abuse after a nurse told White that a two-year-old girl had been sexually assaulted and had a vaginal tear.

He had been arrested Feb. 20 in connection with that incident and he bonded out of jail Feb. 22.

According to Calera Police, Green had been released from prison on Dec. 31, 2012, and the alleged sexual assaults that involved toughing the vaginal area happened on Feb. 14. The alleged fondling of the boy happened sometime after Dec. 31.

Green was previously convicted of possession of methamphetamine with intent to distribute. White attempted to speak with Green, who asked White to call his attorney, the affidavit states. A warrant has been issued for Green’s arrest.