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Christopher Dionne hosted the pilot episode of home improvement network HGTV's “Family Flip" and appeared in the A&E show “House Rescue” in California when police began the investigation.
Dionne was found guilty of risk of injury to a minor and sexual assault in the New London, Connecticut Judicial District Court on Wednesday, Oct. 16.for the Nov. 26, 2017 abuse.
Judge Barbara Bailey Jongbloed sentenced Dionne to three years in prison on Wednesday, Dec. 11, and ruled he must serve 10 years of probation and register as a sex offender.
Dionne grabbed the girl under her clothes and took pictures of her after awakening her at 1:30 a.m. at his home in Old Lyme, Connecticut, according to a warrant obtained by the Hartford Courant.
Dionne molested the girl several hours apart while his 14-year-old son and 10-year-old daughter sleep in the same room, People Magazine reported.
The 37-year-old Dionne's daughter and the victim were teammates on a youth soccer team and had regular sleepovers at each other's houses, People reported.
A&E said it suspended production on a new show it had been working on with Dionne, NBC Connecticut reported.
The victim, now 12, did not attend the sentencing, but her mother delivered an emotional statement to the court, saying the girl stilled believed in the Easter Bunny, and had no idea about sex, when the incident occurred, according to The Day. She said her daughter said that Dionne told the girl her best friend would not have a father, and he would go to jail if she told anyone.
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