Also accepted charge for lewd and lascivious sexual abuse of a vulnerable adult

by Daniel Duric for the Newport Dispatch

NEWPORT — A 59-year-old Newport man has been sentenced on felony charges of sexual assault on a minor and lewd and lascivious sexual abuse of a vulnerable adult, according to documents filed in Orleans Superior Court.

Charles Bonasera Jr. received concurrent sentences of four to fifteen years and one to four years during sentencing.

As part of a plea agreement, the state dismissed two additional felony charges of repeated aggravated sexual assault on a child and lewd and lascivious conduct with a child.

The investigation began in January 2023, when police were contacted by a woman who said her 19-year-old daughter, who has a traumatic brain injury and decreased cognitive functioning, was pregnant and had been sexually involved with Bonasera for four or five years, dating back to when she was 14 or 15 years old.

An affidavit signed by Newport City Police Detective James LeClair indicates the mother is Bonasera’s ex-girlfriend. The victim was later interviewed at a Child Advocacy Center.

After gathering evidence and speaking with the victim, police charged Bonasera with multiple felonies, of which he pleaded guilty to two counts: sexual assault on a person under 16 and lewd and lascivious sexual abuse of a vulnerable adult.