Damion Hopkins

Damion Hopkins sits in District Judge Daniel Goostrey's courtroom on Tuesday, Nov. 18, 2014. (J. Scott Park | MLive.com)

(J. Scott Park)

JACKSON, MI - Damion Hopkins, 18, told a judge Friday he helped his girlfriend set fire to her house so she would no longer have to live with, what he characterized as, an abusive father.

Hopkins and his then-girlfriend, Alexis Penn, now 15, were charged with first-degree arson in connection with a Nov. 2 fire that destroyed her Hanover Townsihp home and seriously injured her father, Charles Penn, who was in the home at the time.

"She had told me she was being raped by her father and that she had contacted the police several times and nobody believed her," Hopkins told the court during proceedings on Friday, Feb. 20, when he pleaded guilty to first-degree arson in Circuit Judge John McBain's courtroom.

"I thought that I had to help and I brought gasoline over to her house, she poured it and we lit it thinking the house was gone, and she wouldn't have to live with her dad. It wasn't my intent to hurt anybody."

Hopkins was responding to questions from his defense attorney, Susan Dehncke, as part of the process to establish the factual basis for his plea.

Dehncke then asked Hopkins if he was "just trying to set up a situation so she would no longer be under the same roof as her father because of what she had told you?"

Hopkins responded,"Yes."

No charges have been filed against Charles Penn.

First-degree arson carries a maximum sentence of life in prison. As part of the plea deal, a charge of lying to a peace officer regarding a violent crime investigation was dropped.

Prosecutor Jerry Jarzynka said Penn, who is being charged as an adult, is undergoing a forensic examination, which is set for review April 3 in District Judge Daniel Goostrey's courtroom.

Also on Friday, Assistant Prosecutor Steve Idema told the court his office would not seek criminal sexual conduct charges against Hopkins for his relationship with Penn.

"We have agreed not to issue charges on that warrant for other independent reasons that have nothing to do with this plea agreement," Idema said.

Hopkins is to be sentenced on the arson charge on April 8.

Hopkins is being held at the Jackson County Jail on a $100,000 bond.