A former Milton Academy teacher was sentenced in Norfolk Superior Court on Friday after he pleaded guilty to child rape charges.
Rey Buono won't spend a day in prison but he will have to register as a sex offender. One of his victims told NBC10 Boston that this isn't the outcome he wanted. While Jamie Forbes was hoping to see a harsher punishment handed out to Buono, he acknowledges at least it's something.
“As you might imagine, it’s been hanging over my head with a lot of uncertainty about what the outcome would be,” said Forbes, who learned Friday that the former teacher who sexually assaulted him more than 40 years ago will spend five years on probation.
The case first made its way into the court system five years ago when investigators arrested Buono in Thailand.
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“When we first started the process, Rey Buono was living in Southeast Asia, so I thought it was highly unlikely that in fact he’d ever be brought back to the U.S.,” Forbes recalled.
Prosecutors got Buono back to the U.S. but then hit a major roadblock after a judge tossed the indictments. The state supreme court, however, eventually allowed prosecutors to charge Buono with two counts of rape of a child with force. And that all led to Friday's plea deal.
“I certainly would have preferred if he served time, but that was not where things ended up and there are still some pretty significant consequences for him,” Forbes said.
Those consequences include registering as a sex offender and wearing an ankle monitor.
Forbes was just 14 years old when Buono sexually assaulted him on a school trip to Italy in the early 1980s. In all, 18 students accused Buono of sexual abuse. Still, Forbes says Buono nearly got away with it all.
“I feel just grateful that that all came to an end without him walking away free, which was a possibility as well,” Forbes said.
Prosecutors say Buono, who is now 77, will serve his probation in Maine where he'll be living.
Milton Academy is a prestigious preparatory boarding and day school in Milton, Massachusetts.
