A former host on a piloted show for HGTV has had his show canceled before its TV premiere after he was found guilty of molesting his daughter's 10-year-old friend during a sleepover. Former HGTV host Christopher Dionne was accused of sexually assaulting a child who played on the same soccer team as his daughter and had regular sleepovers at his home.
Prior to the child molestation charges, Dionne hosted the remodeling show Family Flip that aired one episode on the HGTV network. The popular cable television channel is owned by Discovery, Inc and primarily broadcasts reality programming related to home improvement and real estate. Dionne was part of a home improvement reality show within the state of Connecticut where the former host resides. Dionne’s show, Family Flip, ran for one episode back in 2015. The show ran two years before Dionne was accused of child molestation.
The former Family Flip host was found guilty of molesting a 10-year-old girl in his Connecticut home. He was charged and convicted on Wednesday for risk of injury to a minor and fourth-degree sexual assault, a New London Superior Court official confirmed to People. Dionne is expected to be released on a $100,000 bond while he awaits his sentencing court date on December 11. During his trial, Dionne's victim, now 12, testified that she was best friends with the 37-year-old’s daughter at the time of the assault and would regularly sleep over the Dionne household. His arrest warrant shows that at the time of the alleged assault, the victim claimed Dionne touched her inappropriately while she was sleeping over for his daughter's birthday in November 2017. The victim claims Dionne woke her up around 1:30 a.m. by placing his hand against her buttocks under her pajamas while she was laying on her stomach. She said Dionne came back a few hours later and placed his hand under her bra and touched her chest before he took a photo of her on his cellphone.
The victim says she was molested twice, several hours apart. Dionne’s 14-year-old son and 10-year-old daughter were sleeping in the same room when the assault happened. During the assault, the victim says Dionne asked her if she wanted to see his genitals, saying, “Are you a big girl or a little girl?” and warning her, “If you tell your mom, I’ll go to jail and (my daughter) won’t have a daddy.” The child said after she refused his advances, Dionne eventually went back to his room. The girl said it wasn't the first time he made advances at her. She detailed a similar incident that happened two months earlier in September when Dionne asked the girl if she wanted to kiss his genitals. The girl says she ended her friendship with Dionne's daughter after the assault.
A spokesperson for HGTV has since released a statement on Dionne's charges saying, “The individual referenced appeared in a pilot that premiered on our network in 2015. The pilot was not picked up for series.” A&E network revealed that they recently suspended production on a new show they were working on with Dionne.