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.”