Man charged in Bethany sexual abuse case pleads guilty

A Bethany man pleaded guilty Tuesday to sexually abusing girls in the town-run after school program and summer camp where he worked, accepting a deal that will see him serve four years in prison with 20 years suspended.

Anthony Mastrangelo, a 26-year-old University of Connecticut graduate, would have faced up to 75 years in prison for counts in five separate cases of sexual abuse and risk of injury to a child.

In addition to four years of incarceration, the agreement includes a lifetime restraining order that bars Mastrangelo from contacting the victims and 10 years of sex offender probation — a more restrictive form of probation that requires therapeutic treatment. When he is released from prison, Mastrangelo will also have to register as a sex offender. The plea was accepted by a New Haven judge on Tuesday.

The abuse case, which came to light in 2024, caused a firestorm in the small community of Bethany. There, residents urged the resignation of First Selectwoman Paula Cofrancesco, a family friend of Mastrangelo, who was found in an independent report to have mishandled the allegations.

Mastrangelo was a town employee who also worked as a substitute teacher in the elementary school. Cofrancesco resigned in May 2025 after being found in the report by the Pullman & Comley law firm to have deceived residents and failed to protect children from Mastrangelo. The report also said that Cofrancesco resisted efforts to make local programs safer in the aftermath.

The case was also allegedly mishandled by state police, who waited well over a year after the initial allegations were made and interviews were conducted to make an arrest, according to warrants. During that time, residents of Bethany were unaware of the allegations against Mastrangelo, and a fifth girl was sexually abused at her home while he worked as her babysitter.

The report faulted State Police, saying, “The unexplained failure of the Connecticut State Police’s Bethany Troop I to seek arrest warrants for Mastrangelo in early 2023, despite having probable cause to initiate criminal proceedings arising from his assault of four victims, provided Mastrangelo an opportunity to commit a further assault in May 2024. The fifteen-month delay in seeking Mastrangelo’s arrests requires a full and candid explanation by the Commanding Officer of the CSP.”

“Investigations which may be complex or have many moving parts take time to investigate, whether that be to gather evidence, interview witnesses, or analyze forensic data,” State Police previously stated in response to questions about the delay from The Connecticut Mirror. “The process may involve collaboration with various specialists and law enforcement agencies to piece together the puzzle.”

The case shed light on a loophole that allows programs for youth that are operated by cities and towns to go unregulated in Connecticut. Unlike camps operated by private companies and nonprofits, municipal camps are not required by the state to do background checks, hire nursing staff or test for water quality.

Though many cities and towns say their parks and rec programs follow a high standard, the Bethany case revealed, in part, a lax atmosphere at Bethany’s programs, with residents saying they witnessed a camp director napping on the job, confronted a reluctance to file incident reports when kids were hurt, and spotty supervision of children.

Even before the Bethany case, lawmakers have attempted to pass bills that would create some regulation for such camps in recent years. In 2025, an attempt to require licensing failed in the immediate aftermath of the Bethany case. This year, lawmakers succeeded in passing a more modest bill that will create new mandated reporter requirements.

In the Mastrangelo case, at least one former counselor, Nick Bottone, said that he was never trained as a mandated reporter during almost a decade of employment. That status would have required him to report child abuse and neglect concerns to DCF.

Though a statute went into effect in 2022 that required staff 21 and over at youth camps to be trained as mandated reporters, that statute did not specify that municipal camps were included. The 2026 law changes the statute to specifically include such camps. Though many municipalities have resisted efforts at full licensure, which they say could require costly upgrades, the mandated reporter training is free and can be done online.

The 2026 law also requires the preparation of a report on basic facts about municipal camps across the state — currently, the state doesn’t know how many such camps exist, what their policies are or how many children and enrolled in them each year.

On Tuesday, victim advocate Christie Ciancola told Judge Elpedio Vitale that four out of five of the families involved wanted to support the plea deal. One of the girls did wish to take Mastrangelo to trial in hopes of securing a lengthier sentence, she said.

“She understands what going to trial would be like, but she is bravely is willing to stand up for herself if the other children were inclined,” Ciancola said. “She believes in truth and justice and that right is right and wrong is wrong, and she would be willing to do what she had to do for what’s right.”

Ciancola said the girl and her family had accepted the decision of the other families but wanted her own position to go on the record.

During Tuesday’s hearing, Vitale asked Mastrangelo if in accepting the deal that “you agree, basically, that you did what the state claims you did?”

“Yes, your honor,” Mastrangelo responded.

Mastrangelo remains free on bond pending his sentencing on Aug. 11.