Tony McCollister wants a judge to decide his fate on the most serious charge he faces.
The former reality TV personality, who appeared on A&E’s “Neighbors with Benefits,” has pleaded guilty to 17 felony counts involving child pornography and bestiality, but is pushing ahead to trial on allegations he drugged and raped a 5-year-old girl. McCollister, whose IP address led authorities to explicit material involving children, was arrested in December in Ohio alongside his partner, Erica Lynne Grove.
A six-month investigation by the Warren County Sheriff’s Office uncovered thousands of graphic text messages exchanged between the couple. Officials also discovered video of McCollister and Grove engaging in sexual conduct with two dogs, the sheriff’s office announced in February.
McCollister pleaded guilty to 13 counts of pandering sexually-oriented material involving a minor and four counts of sexual conduct with an animal, according to WLWT. The rape charge, which prosecutors say involves evidence the couple drugged and sexually assaulted a girl under 6 years old, will proceed to a bench trial rather than before a jury.
Grove, 37, was convicted last week of gross sexual contact and two counts of endangering a child, but a jury found her not guilty of rape. She had previously pleaded guilty to four counts of sexual conduct with an animal. Her defense attorneys argued the disturbing text messages between her and McCollister were merely fantasy, while prosecutors maintained they documented actual abuse.
Both McCollister and Grove are scheduled to be sentenced in November.
McCollister’s brief television career came in 2015 on “Neighbors with Benefits,” a short-lived A&E series that aired just two episodes before cancellation. The show followed swingers in an Ohio neighborhood, with McCollister cast as the community’s leader who sought to recruit neighbors into what promotional materials described as their “freewheeling lifestyle.”
The case against the couple began when authorities traced child exploitation material to McCollister’s internet connection, leading to the December arrests that uncovered the broader pattern of alleged abuse.