SUMNER COUNTY, TN - On Friday, Sumner County Criminal Court Judge Dee David Gay sentenced 48-year-old Christopher Howard Alessio to 162 years in prison.

Earlier this year Assistant District Attorneys Nathan Nichols and Tara Wyllie secured convictions against Alessio on 21 charges of sexual abuse involving multiple children over a 16-year period.

Alessio was arrested in October 2022 by Hendersonville Police Detective Jason Steffy after a 13-year-old disclosed repeated abuse. Five additional victims later came forward, with incidents dating back to 2005 in both Hendersonville and White House. White House Police Detective Sergeant Dan Hunter investigated those cases.

The jury found Alessio guilty of two counts of continuous sexual abuse of a child, six counts of child rape, seven counts of aggravated sexual battery, five counts of rape, and one count of sexual battery by an authority figure.

On Friday, September 5, 2025, Alessio was sentenced on the convictions that he received this past July. “I would like to express my sincere gratitude to these survivors, all of whom helped to end Alessio's reign of terror by courageously coming forward,” said Sumner County District Attorney General Thomas Dean. “While no prison sentence can ever fully erase the emotional scars left by Christopher Alessio, it is my sincere hope that these survivors feel they have received justice.”

Dean continued, “I also wish to applaud the excellent investigative work of the Hendersonville and White House Police Departments and valuable contributions made to this prosecution by Ashley's Place, Our Kids Clinic, and my hard-working staff members, Victim-Witness Coordinators Sally Ann Pirtle and Jennifer Woodard, Legal Secretaries Brittany Nale and Maggie Robbins, and Legal Intern Zoe Cantrell.”

“As District Attorney General, one of my greatest responsibilities is protecting the children of Sumner County,” Dean added. “To that end, my office will remain dedicated to aggressively prosecuting those who harm children and seeing that they are held accountable for their crimes.”

During today's hearing, Generals Nichols and Wyllie urged Judge Gay to impose the maximum sentence allowed by law based upon Alessio's extensive history of criminal conduct and the severe emotional damage he inflicted on those who survived his abuse. They also argued that a lengthy period of incarceration was necessary to protect children from Alessio and deter those who may wish to follow in his footsteps. Judge Gay agreed and ordered Alessio to live out the remainder of his life behind bars.

• See the previous news article HERE.