A+E Networks has chosen to suspend production of FYI’s upcoming show “House Rescue,” after one of its stars was arrested on a sexual assault charge.
“In light of the allegations which just came to light, we are suspending production on the series,” a spokesman told TheWrap on Monday.
Fox News reported that Christopher J. Dionne turned himself in to Connecticut police Monday on charges of fourth-degree sexual assault and risk of injury to a minor.
Dionne, who also appeared on the 2015 HGTV program “Family Flip,” denied the accusations while speaking to police, Fox News said.
Citing documents, Fox News said that Dionne allegedly touched a girl, identified by Fox as a friend of Dionne’s children, on the buttocks under her clothes and on her chest during a sleepover in November.
The anonymous alleged victim said that Dionne told her not to reveal the incident, lest he be sent to jail and that his daughter would not have a father.
Dionne told police that, when he arrived home from a bar, he sat down next to the girl, who was awake and rubbed his stomach. Dionne said that he rebuffed the girl’s move, deeming it “inappropriate.” Dionne said that he merely rubbed the alleged victim’s back when she started crying.