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Brockton Man Sentenced to Serve 43 Years to Life in State Prison for Aggravated Rape, Armed Assault to Murder of Woman



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Contact:  Beth Stone- (508) 584-8120

BROCKTON – A Brockton man has been sentenced to serve 43 years to life in State
Prison for the brutal rape and beating of a city woman, Plymouth County District Attorney
Timothy J. Cruz announced today.

On October 5, 2016, after a three-day trial, a Plymouth County jury deliberated 12 hours
before finding Tony Bunton (DOB: 10/09/62) guilty of one count each of Rape, Subsequent
Offense Rape, Armed Assault with Intent to Murder, Assault with Intent to Rape, Assault and
Battery with a Dangerous Weapon and Assault and Battery with Serious Bodily Injury and as a
Habitual Offender. At sentencing today, Judge Thomas McGuire sentenced Bunton to serve 43
years to life in State Prison. After court, Bunton was transported to MCI-Cedar Junction where
he will serve his time.

“Just two years after Mr. Bunton served a 24-year sentence for a similar crime, he raped
and beat the victim in this case and left her for dead,” DA Cruz said. “Mr. Bunton has a lengthy
history of sexual assaults and violence against women and poses a danger to society. I am
pleased that the public will be safe from the violent actions of Mr. Bunton for at least the next 43
years.”

On December 10, 2014, at approximately 9 p.m., Brockton Police received a 911 call
from an ambulance driving in the vicinity of North Montello Street who reported a female victim
staggering in the street, bleeding heavily from her head. The woman was dressed only in a shirt
and told emergency medical personnel that she had been raped and struck with a baseball bat by
a man she had known as “Tony.”

Brockton Police and State Police detectives assigned to the Plymouth County District
Attorney’s Office began their investigation. They discovered a reddish brown fluid stain, later
found to be positive for human blood, on the front porch at #283 and #282 North Montello
Street. A Brockton Police K-9 tracked to a lot near Brockton Tire at #311 North Montello Street
where police discovered a pair of women’s black pants turned inside out, a pair of black
women’s shoes, a black knit men’s winter hat and some keys.

As part of their investigation, police viewed video surveillance from Brockton Tire that
showed the victim and a man, later positively identified as Tony Bunton, walk behind the tire
company building. Shortly after, the victim appeared running out of the parking lot without pants
on and Bunton emerged carrying an object consistent with a baseball bat.

Badly beaten, the victim approached two homes next door to Brockton Tire for help
before flagging down and collapsing in front of an ambulance operator who was driving down
the street. The victim was transported to Brockton Hospital before being transferred to Beth
Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston. She required multiple brain surgeries and lengthy
hospital treatment for her injuries.

On December 13, 2014, after police conducted several interviews, including one with the
victim from her hospital bed in which she identified Bunton as her attacker, Bunton was arrested
at his Brockton apartment.

After the trial concluded, Bunton was tried on a Habitual Offender indictment and
Subsequent Rape Charge, subjecting him to criminal penalty enhancements on the Rape charge
he was found guilty of earlier today. The same jury presided over this trial, where four witnesses
testified that Bunton was the same person previously convicted of Rape. The jury found Bunton
guilty on those charges as well.

Bunton still faces six counts of Possession of Child Pornography after State Police
conducting a search warrant found images on Bunton’s cell phone of children who appeared to
be under the age of 15. He is scheduled to go to trial on those charges in the coming months.

Assistant District Attorneys Jessica Elumba and Elizabeth Mello prosecuted the case,
which was investigated by State Police Detectives assigned to the District Attorney’s Office and
Brockton Police.

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October 28, 2016