DAUPHIN COUNTY, Pa. (WHTM) - A Dauphin County jury has convicted 37-year-old Christian Bonnette of attempted rape and three counts of aggravated assault after a 2018 incident at Penn State Hershey Medical Center.
On August 20, 2018, Bonnette attacked two nurses and a patient care assistant who were caring for him while he was awaiting surgery for a broken jaw sustained during a fight.
According to the Dauphin County District Attorney's Office, around 1 a.m. Bonnette beckoned one of the nurses to his room, grabbed her, and forced her into his room while shutting the door behind him.
Another nurse and the nurse’s aide ran to the room to help her and after a struggle entered the room. Inside the room they found Bonnette strangling the nurse. All three victims described a violent assault during which Bonnette strangled each woman and punched them in their faces.
During the ensuing struggle, Bonnette pulled down a nurse's scrub pants and attempted to rape her. The attack continued until a male nurse entered the room and pulled Bonnette off the woman he was attempting to rape.
During trial testimony, the District Attorney's Office say Bonnette claimed that he was having a dream when he awoke to two nurses pulling at him and could not remember the rest of the incident. Bonnette's defense counsel argued that Bonnette did not have the specific intent to commit the crimes and that they were “involuntary” on his part.
During closing argument, Chief Deputy District Attorney Jennifer Gettle responded to the defense “in order to buy into the defense argument, you have to believe that every single [Commonwealth] witness lied. The actions of the defendant were not the actions of someone in a mental health crisis. This defendant was deliberate in his violent and vicious attack on these women. Today is about accountability for this actions.”
Senior Judge Richard A. Lewis set sentencing for May 3, 2022, and ordered that Bonnette undergo an evaluation by the Sexual Offender’s Assessment Board. The court increased Bonnette's bail to $250,000 after being advised of his significant criminal history for burglary, assaultive behavior, and drug offenses.
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