The Delaware Department of Justice announced a conviction against Christoper Crisona, 58, of three counts of Unlawful Sexual Penetration Third Degree and Continuous Sexual Abuse of a Child. Crisona formerly worked as a teacher at St. Thomas the Apostle School in Wilmington.
“Sexual abuse of any kind is unconscionable; for it to come at the hands of individuals in positions of power and sacred trust is a horror unto its own,” Attorney General Kathy Jennings said. “I cannot imagine the suffering this victim endured, nor the bravery it took to come forward. I am profoundly grateful for the police, prosecutors and social workers in this case, all of whom have been crucial for securing justice.”
Crisona’s abuse was discovered during an investigation into Father John Taggart and Father John Francis O’Brien. Taggart served as a priest at St. John the Apostle in Milford as well as at St. Thomas the Apostle in Wilmington. An anonymous report to the Diocese of Wilmington regarding alleged sexual abuse of the same victim by Taggart and O’Brien, who is now deceased, led to the allegations against Crisona.
An investigation found that Crisona, who had moved to Florida, raped a child from September 1, 1994, to June 15, 1995. A student complaint had him removed from St. Thomas the Apostle, and he was moved to St. Matthew’s in Wilmington in 1999, then Corpus Christi in 1999 and St. Hedwig’s in 2000.
Crisona could face a minimum mandatory sentence of 47 years in prison. His sentencing hearing has not yet been scheduled. Taggart, who was living in Georgia at the time of his arrest, is scheduled for trial on January 11, 2027, and faces charges of Unlawful Sexual Penetration Third Degree, and four counts of Unlawful Sexual Intercourse First Degree
