Christopher Dionne, the former star of a pilot that once aired on HGTV, was arrested on Monday in Connecticut and charged with the sexual assault of a 10-year old.
According to various outlets, the 36-year old turned himself into authorities after an active arrest warrant had been issued in his name.
Dionne was charged with fourth-degree sexual assault and risk of injury to a child; he was then released on $ 100,000 bond.
The ex-reality star was once at the center of HGTV’s Family Flip and is due back in court on February 14.
This is what we know at the moment, based on an arrest warrant application obtained and made public by People Magazine:
The alleged young victim told a social worker that Dionne touched her inappropriately while she was at a birthday party/sleepover hosted at Dionne’s residence in November.
This unnamed individual alleges Dionne woke her up around 1:30 a.m. and put his hand against her rear end, hiking up her pajamas to do so, as she lay on her stomach.
She claimed he proceeded to reach his hand under her bra and felt up her chest, even snapping a picture of her on his phone as she held her shirt up.
The accuser is a close friend of Dionne’s 10-year old daughter and says there were two incidents of this nature, several hours apart.
The aforementioned daughter and Dionne’s 14-year old son were allegedly in the room when this happened.
People goes on to write that Dionne reportedly asked if the 10-year-old wanted to see his penis, asking her:
“Are you a big girl or a little girl?” and telling her: “If you tell your mom, I’ll go to jail and (my daughter) won’t have a daddy.”
She claimed she refused his advances and he eventually went back to his bedroom.
This same girl says Dionne asked her weeks earlier if she wanted to kiss his genitals.
On November 27, after the second encounter allegedly took place, the girl’s mother contacted local police.
Three days later, cops visited Dionne’s home while he was off in California, filming a home remodeling series for A&E titled House Rescue.
Regarding the evening of the alleged molestation (November 25), Dionne’s wife told police that her husband had gone out with friends and was back in their bed by the time she woke up, around 5 or 6 a.m.
In Dionne’s initial statement to police, Dionne confessed to having an interaction with the girl during the sleepover.
He claims she placed her arm around his waist and rubbed his stomach; in turn, he told her this was “inappropriate” and only “big girl stuff.”
She then turned over and began to cry, Dionne alleges.
He says he rubbed her back and told her to go back to sleep before returning to his bedroom.
Dionne’s HGTV show, Family Flip, ran for just one episode back in 2015.
Said HGTV in a statement to People:
“The person you reference in your inquiry appeared in a pilot that premiered on our network more than 2-1/2 years ago.
“The pilot was not picked up for series and is no longer on our air.”
A&E, meanwhile, said in a statement of its own that they’ve suspended production on House Rescue in light of these allegations