SALT LAKE CITY — A Salt Lake City man who was arrested on child abuse and child kidnapping charges after he allegedly chased a boy who had ding-dong ditched his home, has been told to self-deport back to New Zealand.
Tony Arnold Bernstone, 59, was arrested on August 2, 2025, after allegedly striking the boy several times.
Bernstone was sentenced on April 21, 2026, after he pleaded guilty to an ammended child kidnapping charge. He was given a suspended sentence of 1 to 15 years in prison, 4 years of probation, where he is not allowed to return to Utah, and was ordered to self-deport himself to New Zealand.
Police say that a group of kids were having a sleepover at a home near Bernstone's when the children decided to doorbell-ditch nearby homes.
Ding-Dong Ditch is a prank where someone, or a group of people, ring a doorbell and then run before the person opens the door.
After the group rang the doorbell, Bernstone allegedly chased after them on a bicycle, eventually grabbing the victim by the shirt and yelling at him, while striking the child three times in the face and punching him in the stomach.
The victim contacted his father, who agreed to meet with Bernstone at a nearby Maverik.
When police arrived on the scene, Bernstone admitted to having pushed the victim up against a fence and slapped him a couple of times to get him to stop running away. However, after police arrested Bernstone and read him his rights, he refused to admit the assault, only saying, "No comment."
A witness told police that he heard what sounded like someone hitting or getting pushed up against a chain link fence after Bernstone caught the victim. The witness added hearing at least three slapping sounds, followed by the victim yelling that he was sorry.
