Child Molester on the Lam Rescues Connecticut Teen, Police Say

HAMDEN, Conn. – Police say a jogger who saved a suicidal teenager from drowning herself in a Connecticut lake was a convicted child molester on the lam from Georgia.

Forty-nine-year-old Michael Rogers was held on $200,000 bond Wednesday, one day after he was arrested at his Hamden home.

Police encountered Rogers on Sept. 2 when he pulled the struggling 16-year-old girl from the lake and helped an officer who got stuck in deep mud during the rescue. They say Rogers called himself Michael Patrick. They learned his real identity Nov. 23.

Georgia authorities had been seeking him. They say he absconded in 2005, violating probation after his 2001 conviction on four counts of child molestation. They plan to seek his extradition.

It's unclear if Rogers has an attorney.