ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. – A former teacher at an Orange County middle school who pleaded guilty earlier this year in a child sex chats case has been sentenced to life, records show.
Italo Rafael Brett Bonini, 26, of Orlando, was sentenced Thursday to life in prison on charges of enticing a minor to engage in sexual activity and producing child sex abuse material. He pleaded guilty to those charges in May.
Brett Bonini was a chorus instructor at Hunters Creek Middle School who was arrested in February after investigators learned he pushed two children in Maryland to do sex acts over Discord video chat, offering them in-game currency for the popular children’s video game “Roblox.”
[PAST COVERAGE: Orange County middle school employee accused of disturbing sex chats with children online]
Brett Bonini was discovered and arrested after the children’s father found disturbing messages from him, prosecutors said. When interviewed by detectives, Brett Bonini claimed he had recently deleted his Discord account because he was “disgusted with himself.”
According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, there was evidence to suggest Brett Bonini had tried to victimize at least 20 other children using the Internet.
“Each chat with potential victims followed a similar pattern of Brett Bonini lying about his identity, making sexual advances, and attempting to have a video call with the children, who identified themselves as minors,” a news release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office states.
[MORE: Allegations of child exploitation on Roblox prompt Florida investigation, lawsuits]