A former Wilmington teacher was convicted last week of repeatedly raping a child following a yearslong investigation. On Oct. 22, Christopher Crisona, 58, was convicted of three counts of unlawful sexual intercourse, two counts of unlawful sexual contact, one count of unlawful sexual penetration and one count of continuous sexual abuse of a child. “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,” said Attorney General Kathy Jennings in a statement. “I cannot imagine the suffering this victim endured, nor the bravery it took to come forward.” Resources for victims of sexual assault are available through the National Sexual Violence Resources Center and the National Sexual Assault Telephone Hotline at 800-656-4673. The investigation found that Crisona, who was working as a teacher at St. Thomas the Apostle School in Wilmington at the time, raped a child multiple times between Sept. 1, 1994, and June 15, 1995. Crisona’s abuse was discovered during the course of an investigation that began with an anonymous report to the Diocese of Wilmington concerning reported sexual abuse of the same victim by Father John Taggart and Father John Francis O’Brien, who has since died.  Taggart is accused of repeatedly sexually abusing the same victim during the child’s seventh- and eighth-grade years at St. Thomas the Apostle School. The abuse reportedly continued after the child began high school. According to officials, Taggart worked at the church from 1987 through 1998 and, in January of 1999, officials said, he was transferred to St. John the Apostle church in Milford, Delaware. Crisona worked at the schools in the 1994-1995 school year and was removed from the school the following year after a student complaint, officials said. He later worked at St. Matthew’s in Wilmington (1999), Corpus Christi (1999), and St. Hedwig’s (2000), according to officials. At left, John Taggart, who formerly worked as a priest at St. Thomas the Apostle in Wilmington, Del. and, at right, schoolteacher Christopher Crisona, pictured after his recent apprehension on child sex charges in Florida. Crisona faces a minimum mandatory sentence of 47 years in prison at sentencing, which has not yet been scheduled.  John Taggart is scheduled for trial on Jan. 11, 2027, and faces multiple charges in connection with the child rape case. ...read more read less