On September 24th, a Catoosa County jury convicted John Christian Collier for bringing his child to his house so that he could film the child nude, after a three-day trial before Superior Court Judge Don Thompson. Collier, 35, was convicted on 16 counts of sexually related crimes against his child including: Enticing a child for an indecent purpose, Child molestation, Sexual exploitation of children, and Grooming of a minor.
Evidence presented at trial showed that Collier brought his biological child to his house during his weekend visitation and would film the child while nude.
Eventually, the child mentioned to its mother that “dad had been acting strange lately” and confided that the father had been making the child change clothes in front of him and sometimes filmed the child in various states of undress. The mother immediately reported this behavior to law enforcement. The child was taken to the Children’s Advocacy center and was interviewed by Senior Forensic Interviewer Holly Kittle.
During the interview the child disclosed that ever since the child turned 13 years old, the father insisted that the child change clothes in front of him including intimate clothing like underwear. The child also disclosed that on several occasions Collier made the child get fully nude so that he could “take measurements” for the purpose of online clothes shopping. The child disclosed an incident in Collier’s living room where he told the child he was going to teach the child self-defense but insisted that that child get fully nude while he wrestled the child. The child told Ms. Kittle that the child was aware that some of these incidents were recorded on Collier’s phone.
The case was investigated by Detective Todd Pitts of the Catoosa County Sheriff’s Office who, after hearing the child’s disclosures during the interview, secured a warrant for Collier’s phone and electronics. Upon searching Collier’s electronics, 4 separate videos of the child were located including the video of Collier wrestling with his nude child on the ground. Additionally, dozens of screen shots from these videos were located, many of which were edited to zoom in on certain intimate parts of the child. Detective Pitts also located a photo collage with an old nude picture of the child’s mother, Collier’s ex-wife, side-by-side, with a nude picture of child.
The case was presented to the jury by Assistant District Attorney David Wolfe with the assistance of Victim Witness Advocate Ashley Nicholson, who coordinated and communicated with the witnesses, and District Attorney’s Office Investigator Christy Smith who provided investigation and support to the team. ADA Wolfe presented evidence and argued to the jury that Collier’s behavior was escalating and that Collier was sexually attracted to his child as evidence by the fact that he was comparing nude photos of his ex-wife with his child.
On September 24th, after a three-day trial, the jury found John Collier guilty of 16 counts of sexually related crimes against his own child. On November 10, 2025, Judge Don Thompson held a sentencing hearing for Collier.
During that hearing, ADA Wolfe pointed out that Collier had no remorse for his actions. Judge Thompson sentenced Collier to serve 35 years in prison followed by 15 years of Sex Offender probation, stating that Collier was a predator and his lack of remorse was troubling. District Attorney Clayton M. Fuller issued a strong warning following the sentencing, reminding the public that his office will never hesitate to bring evil to justice.
“If you’re going to sexually abuse your own child, you’d better not do it here in the Lookout Mountain Judicial Circuit. Move somewhere else—because here we make examples of sickos. We crush the souls of weak men who forget what a father’s supposed to be.”
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