SUMNER CO., Tenn. (WTVF) — A Hendersonville woman convicted of child neglect after prosecutors said she knowingly exposed children in her care to a known child abuser has been sentenced to 12 years in prison.
Stacy Dawn Alessio will serve the sentence without the possibility of probation, parole or early release.
A Sumner County jury convicted Alessio in June of two counts of aggravated child neglect and two counts of child neglect.
The case centered on prosecutors’ allegations that Alessio knew her then-husband, Christopher Howard Alessio, had sexually abused a child years earlier but later allowed him to be around other children in her care.
Prosecutors said Alessio witnessed Christopher Alessio sexually abusing a child in 2006 while the child was living in their White House home. They said she did not report the abuse or intervene.
Years later, prosecutors said Alessio acknowledged the abuse in Facebook messages to the victim, apologizing for not protecting the child and confirming the allegations were true.
By 2022, Stacy and Christopher Alessio were again living together in Hendersonville and frequently hosted sleepovers and activities for pre-teen girls, according to prosecutors.
Prosecutors said Christopher Alessio sexually abused two children during multiple sleepovers that summer. One of the victims later disclosed the abuse, leading to his arrest.
The victim from the 2006 case later shared Stacy Alessio’s Facebook messages with investigators. Stacy Alessio was arrested in January 2023 after a Sumner County grand jury indicted her.
Christopher Alessio was convicted in 2025 of more than 25 felony counts involving the sexual abuse of six children, including the victim from 2006. He was later sentenced to 162 years in prison without the possibility of parole or early release.

September 11, 2001 is a day most associate with terror and tragedy. Austin Pollack shares a story from that day about hope and persistence: the effort to save a little girl’s life – with an organ donation. The problem? The young patient was in Houston, and her life-saving liver here in Nashville. With the grounding of all civilian aircraft, how could it be done? “Nobody ever said this isn’t possible.”
- Rhori Johnston