HGTV Host Christopher Dionne Gets Convicted of Molesting 10-Year-Old Girl
Christopher Dionne, 37, was found guilty of molesting the girl in his home in Old Lyme, Conn. (CONNECTICUT STATE POLICE)
IBexNews - A former HGTV host and rising reality TV star was found guilty of molesting a 10-year-old girl in his Connecticut home and is now facing three years in prison and 10 years of sexual offender probation on Wednesday.
Christopher Dionne, age 37, maintains his innocence and is expected to appeal his convictions for fourth-degree assault and risk of injury to a minor, the Associated Press reported.
Known for his HGTV pilot “Family Flip,” and his latest show “House Rescue" on A&E, the TV celebrity was accused of touching his young daughter’s friend at a sleepover birthday party on Nov. 26, 2017, according to a civil lawsuit filed at the New London Superior Court in Connecticut. The complaint detailed that the minor was sexually assaulted at Dionne’s Old Lyme home.
“During the sleepover, while the minor plaintiff was asleep on the couch, the defendant, Christopher Dionne, awoke the minor plaintiff, touched the minor plaintiff’s buttocks and breasts beneath her pajamas and asked her to perform an oral sexual act on him,” the complaint said.
At the time of the crime the child was innocent, still believing in Elf on the Shelf, the Easter Bunny, and knew nothing about sex. But, when she returned from the sleepover her mother said that her daughter broke down crying, telling her how Dionne had touched her and threatened her, The Day reported.
According to the victim’s mom, Dionne asked her daughter, “Are you a big girl or a little girl?” and told the girl, “If you tell your mom, I’ll go to jail and (my daughter) won’t have a daddy,” Fox News reported.
In addition to the testimony provided by the young victim and her mother, the state was presented with a video of a forensic interview done by a Yale New Haven Children’s Hospital specialist and evidence of Dionne’s DNA found in the inner waistband of the child’s pajama bottoms, The Day reported.
It was revealed during the testimony that Dionne had been getting ready to travel to California the night of the incident when he came from a bar and then sexually touched the child, The Day reported. Trial testimony also revealed that Dionne and the victim’s mother had an inappropriate texting relationship before the child told her mother.
Dionne’s wife, Summer, said several things seemed strange about the case, but she also said that her children still need their father and the couple will do what’s best for their kids. But since making that statement, Summer seems to have decided that what is best is divorce. She shared during the sentencing on Wednesday that she would be divorcing Dionne and then proceeded to leave the area with their kids, The Day reported.
