Pike man sentenced for child sexual abuse

Posted 8/21/12

MILFORD, PA — Michael Bonisgnore, 48, of Dingman’s Ferry, was sentenced to 45 years in prison on September 1, for sexually abusing two young girls, corrupting a young boy and producing child …

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Pike man sentenced for child sexual abuse

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MILFORD, PA — Michael Bonisgnore, 48, of Dingman’s Ferry, was sentenced to 45 years in prison on September 1, for sexually abusing two young girls, corrupting a young boy and producing child pornography.

In the Pike County Court of Common Pleas, Bonsignore pleaded guilty to raping the girls when they were younger than 10 years old; he admitted to abusing them multiple times and recording the incidents. One of them suffers from severe mental disabilities. Bonsignore also admitted to exposing a boy younger than 12 to sexually explicit materials through the Internet.

Judge Jonathan Mark of Monroe County, specially presiding over the case in Pike County, imposed the sentence yesterday after a three-year delay following the charges, which were brought in 2012. During that time, Bonsignore challenged multiple aspects of his case, including the search of his residence and the competency of witnesses. He sought the dismissal of the charges on various grounds. Both Judge Mark and the Pennsylvania Superior Court ruled that the prosecution could go forward.

The state charges followed Bonsignore’s guilty plea in 2010 in federal court to one count of sexual exploitation of children in the production of child pornography.

At the sentencing on September 1, the Pike County District’s Attorney’s Office requested that the state sentence run consecutive to the federal sentence of 25 years. The court agreed to the request, and Bonsignore will not begin serving the state sentence until at least 2036. Further, he will not be eligible for parole for the state sentence until at least 2056, when he will be 89 years old.

Pike County District Attorney Ray Tonkin said, “Horrific sexual abuse was perpetrated against three children by Bonsignore, and our office had a duty to proceed with prosecuting him for the lifetime of pain and suffering his crimes caused. The sentence means Bonsignore will likely spend the rest of his life behind bars, exactly where he belongs.”

In April 2011, the Swedish National Police were reviewing images of child pornography, and they discovered one of them had a partial picture of an envelope with a return address of the County of Pike Domestic Relations Office in Milford. The image was ultimately forwarded to the United States’ National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC).

A Pennsylvania State Police Cpl. Derek Fozard was able to identify the children in the pornography following a discussion with a Pike County Children and Youth Services caseworker who recognized the children, the home and furniture depicted in the pornography.

A search warrant was then executed upon Bonsignore’s home in Dingman’s Ferry. One of the victims was present when law enforcement arrived. Bonsignore was on vacation in Jamaica at the time. When he returned to the United States the following day, federal agents met Bonsignore at the airport and arrested him, and he has remained in custody since.

During the investigation against Bonsignore, it was discovered that he had been communicating about sexual abuse of the children with a California man named Corey Loftin, who was a child-care worker.

Loftin ultimately pleaded guilty to multiple charges related to sexual abuse of minors and molesting seven children, and is serving a 70-year sentence in prison.

Bonsignore will now be returned to federal custody to begin serving the remainder of his federal sentence before being transferred back to state prison.

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