SUMNER COUNTY, Tenn. (WKRN) -- A man convicted less than two months ago for raping and sexually abusing multiple Sumner County children has been ordered to spend the rest of his life behind bars, according to officials.

Sumner County District Attorney General Thomas Dean said the Hendersonville Police Department took Christopher Howard Alessio into custody in October 2022 after a 13-year-old girl reported Alessio had repeatedly raped and molested her throughout the summer.

At the time, authorities said Alessio was facing charges for rape, rape of a child, aggravated sexual battery, and sexual battery by an authority figure.

Then, after Alessio's arrest became public, multiple girls and women came forward, saying Alessio had also molested them, according to Dean. By the end of the investigation, law enforcement had reportedly identified six adult and teenage survivors of sexual abuse by Alessio over a 16-year period in both Hendersonville and White House.

Following a five-day trial in July, Dean said a jury found the 48-year-old Hendersonville man guilty of the following offenses:

• Seven counts of rape of a child
• Seven counts of aggravated sexual battery
• Five counts of rape
• Two counts of continuous sexual abuse of a child
• One count of sexual battery by an authority figure

According to Dean, during Alessio's sentencing hearing on Friday, Sept. 5, Assistant District Attorneys General Nathan Nichols and Tara Wyllie urged Criminal Court Judge Dee David 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."

Dean said the judge agreed and sentenced Alessio to 162 years in prison without the possibility of parole or early release.

When announcing Alessio's sentence, Dean made the following statement:

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. 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.

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. 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.

No additional details were released about this case.

News Source : https://www.wkrn.com/news/local-news/man-sentenced-to-162-years-for-child-rape-other-sex-crimes-in-sumner-county/