Third accuser comes forward against Bedford man facing child sex abuse charges

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US District Court

CONCORD, NH – A third child sex abuse victims has come forward against a Bedford man accused of secretly filming a foreign exchange student with a hidden bathroom camera, according to court records.

Matthew Dion, 48, remains free on bail after Assistant United States Attorney Georgiana Konesky requested for a second time that his bail be revoked. Konesky went before Judge Andrea Johnstone on Monday in the United States District Court in Concord to ask for Dion to be held in jail pending trial after gathering information from a third alleged victim.

The new alleged victim, now an adult, went to authorities in September telling investigators that he had been assaulted while Dion was his youth soccer coach in the 1990s.

“This third allegation of hands-on sexual abuse coupled with the charges of producing child pornography indicates that this defendant has engaged in a pattern of abusing children over many years,” Konesky wrote in her motion to revoke Dion’s bail. “It is therefore material to whether there are conditions of release that will reasonably assure the safety of the community.”

Dion’s lawyer, Brian Quirk, countered that Dion has still yet to be charged with assaulting any children. He is facing a federal charge of producing child pornography in the hidden camera case.

“The government’s motion is based not on any alleged violation of Dion’s existing conditions of release, but instead on an unsubstantiated allegation dating back over two decades that is similar in substance to the allegations advanced by the government in its first motion to reopen Dion’s detention hearing,” Quirk wrote.

Konesky tried to have Johnstone put Dion behind bars in July, citing two alleged victims whose stories of abuse were reported to police. According to Konesky, at least one of the alleged victims has triggered a criminal investigation.

The criminal investigation centers on the allegation from one child who told police that he was sexually assaulted by Dion during a sleepover that took place within the last year, Konesky said during the July hearing. Bedford police are in the process of investigating that allegation, she said. Dion also reportedly assaulted a child he was babysitting during the 1990s, though that alleged victim has since died, Konesky said in July. The victim’s girlfriend and a relative both went to police about Dion after the arrest became public, Konesky said.

Dion was arrested earlier this year after the foreign exchange student living in his Bedford home reported to police finding cameras hidden in a bathroom he used, according to court records. Dion’s arrest prompted parents in his community to contact police, according to Konesky.

Dion, a former youth soccer coach, faces a 15 to 30-year prison sentence on one federal count of producing child pornography for allegedly filming the student.

Johnstone again sided with Dion and Quirk, allowing for continued home confinement with Dion’s brother.

About this Author

Damien Fisher

Damien Fisher is a freelance reporter and publisher of NHReporter.com