Related Video: In March 2024, the stepfather of Madeline Soto, a man accused of murdering her, was hit with 60 new accusations in connection with her loss.
ORLANDO, Fla. (WFLA) – A middle school teacher at the heart of an investigation into sex crimes reportedly taught Madeline Soto, a 13-year-old girl who was killed after being lost last year.
According to a federal affidavit, Italo Rafael Brett Bonnini, 25, of Orlando, was arrested by the FBI on February 5th and seduced the boy using his platform, Discord.
The suspect targeted an 8-year-old and a 6-year-old from Maryland in January. Brett Bonnini invited the 8-year-old to reveal his private area, but he seduced both children over video chats, sometimes to each other engage in sexual acts with him.
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He also sent messages to the children and moved the computer to “more private places from adults.”
When officials questioned Brett Bonnini, he claimed he was “not even gay,” he claimed he “fallen to seduction,” and he claimed he was “not a sick individual,” and he said. made a mistake, the affidavit said. He admitted targeting children because “he can control them.”
According to NBC affiliate Wesh, Brett Bonini, a chorus teacher at Hunter’s Creek Middle School, also taught Soto, a seventh grade student at the school when he disappeared in February 2024.
According to court documents obtained by Click Orlando, Brett Bonini was interviewed by investigators three days after his loss of disappearance. The teenager reportedly was registered in his sixth class.
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“She’s usually very involved. She usually plays with us. She doesn’t miss a concert,” Brett Bonnini told the detective. “She looked pretty normal. I’m very happy. I’ll make friends easily.”
Click Orlando said when Soto disappeared, Brett Bonini received a message from her teenage mother through the district’s communications system. He reportedly sent a reply to let Soto’s mother know that she was marked absent that day.
Court records show that detectives did not worry about Brett Bonnini during the Soto case.
Soto’s stepfather, Stephen Stearns, is the “primary suspect” in her case, and has been accused of sexually abusing and killing a young girl. Soto was last seen alive on the morning of February 26th. Authorities believe Stearns killed her when he was supposed to drop her off at school that day.
After throwing her school items in the trash, he returned to the Orlando apartment with her, and was likely dead in the car at that point. Soto’s body was later found near the forests of Old Hickory Tree Road in Osceola County.
However, Stearns has not yet been convicted of the crime.
