SUMNER COUNTY, Tenn. - Around 50-miles northwest of Murfreesboro, a Hendersonville woman has been convicted in Sumner County Criminal Court after prosecutors said she knowingly exposed children in her care to a man she knew had sexually abused a child years earlier. The conviction took place on Wednesday, June 17, 2026.
Following a three-day jury trial, Assistant District Attorneys Nathan Nichols and Tara Wyllie secured convictions against 46-year-old Stacy Dawn Alessio of Hendersonville. The jury found Alessio guilty of two counts of aggravated child neglect and two counts of child neglect.
Prosecutors said the case centered on Alessio’s knowledge of past abuse involving her then-husband, Christopher Howard Alessio, and her later decision to allow children to remain in the couple’s home, where two of them were eventually sexually abused.
During the trial, prosecutors presented evidence that Stacy Alessio walked in on Christopher Alessio sexually abusing a child in 2006 while the child was living in the couple’s White House, Tennessee home. According to the District Attorney’s Office, Stacy Alessio did not intervene or report the abuse. Instead, prosecutors said she removed the child from the home.
Authorities said when the child later reported the abuse to family members, Stacy Alessio failed to confirm that the allegations were true. Years later, during Stacy and Christopher Alessio’s divorce in 2013, prosecutors said Stacy Alessio sent the 2006 victim a Facebook message apologizing for not protecting her and acknowledging that the victim’s accusations were true.
In 2017, prosecutors said Stacy Alessio and the 2006 victim had another Facebook conversation in which Alessio described more of what she had witnessed. During that exchange, according to prosecutors, Alessio told the victim that the childs presence in the home was "like waiving meat in front of a hungry carnivore" and that Stacy Alessio knew Christopher Alessio might be "dumb enough to take it."
By 2022, Stacy and Christopher Alessio had relocated to Hendersonville and were living together, though they had not remarried. Prosecutors said the couple was active in their neighborhood and frequently hosted gatherings and sleepovers for pre-teen girls.
According to the District Attorney’s Office, Stacy Alessio was also helping run a dance team connected to a local middle school and often held dance team activities and sleepovers at the couple’s home. Parents who allowed their children to attend believed Stacy Alessio was supervising them. Prosecutors said Christopher Alessio was often the person primarily caring for the children during those overnight stays.
During the summer of 2022, prosecutors said Christopher Alessio raped and sexually molested two children who were spending the night at the home. He was arrested in October 2022 after one of the victims disclosed what had happened. Sumner County District Attorney General Thomas Dean said that cases like this serve as a prime example of why reporting suspected child abuse is so important. Dean wrote, “After Stacy Alessio witnessed Christopher Alessio abuse his victim 2006, he went on to sexually assault and rape at least five other children.”
After Christopher Alessio’s arrest, the 2006 victim came forward and provided Stacy Alessio’s Facebook messages to law enforcement. Detective Jason Steffy with the Hendersonville Police Department arrested Stacy Alessio in January 2023 after she was indicted by the Sumner County Grand Jury.
In 2025, Christopher Alessio was convicted by a jury of more than 25 felony counts connected to the sexual abuse of six children, including the 2006 victim. Criminal Court Judge Dee David Gay later sentenced him to 162 years in prison, with no possibility of parole or early release.
Following Stacy Alessio’s conviction, Judge Gay immediately revoked her bond and scheduled her sentencing hearing for August 28, 2026. She faces up to 24 years in prison. Prosecutors said that under Tennessee law, sentences for aggravated child neglect are served without the possibility of probation, parole, or early release.
The District Attorney’s Office credited the victims for their strength and bravery in coming forward. Prosecutors also recognized the work of the Hendersonville Police Department, the White House Police Department’s Criminal Investigations Division, Detectives Jason Steffy and Dan Hunter, Ashley’s Place, Our Kids Clinic, the Tennessee Department of Children’s Services, Victim-Witness Coordinators Sally Ann Pirtle and Jennifer Woodard, and legal secretaries Brittany Nale and Maggie Robbins.
47-Year-old Christopher Alessio, the former husband of the woman, will remain behind bars for the rest of his life. Documents from the Tennessee Department of Correction show his sentence will officially come to an end in year 2184.
