Federal Jury Returns Guilty Verdict Against Hardin County Man for Multiple Child Exploitation Offenses

Jackson, TN - A federal jury has returned a guilty verdict against Christopher Peyton Stricklin, 19, of Savannah, Tennessee, for committing three sexual exploitation offenses against a minor in August 2025. United States Attorney D. Michael Dunavant, for the Western District of Tennessee, announced the verdict today.

Evidence presented in court established that Stricklin used a cell phone to videotape himself sexually molesting a minor female and then sent the video to another minor on the same cell phone. Stricklin was charged in a three-count indictment with production and distribution of child pornography, and with transferring obscene material to a person under age 16. Following a two-day jury trial presided over by United States District Court J. Daniel Breen, Stricklin was convicted of all three counts. His sentencing will be held in August of this year.

Stricklin is facing a 15-year mandatory-minimum prison sentence and a maximum sentence of 30 years' imprisonment on the production count, a 5-year mandatory-minimum sentence and a maximum sentence of 20 years on the distribution count, and a maximum sentence of 10 years' imprisonment on the transferring obscene material count.

Judge Breen will determine the sentence to impose on Stricklin after considering the United States Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors. There is no parole in the federal system.

U.S. Attorney D. Michael Dunavant said, "With the proliferation of cell phones and social media, predators are increasingly committing disturbing crimes against vulnerable victims, including child sexual abuse. As offenders keep committing these heinous crimes against children, our office will keep convicting and severely punishing them."

This case was investigated by members of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation (TBI), the Savannah Police Department, the Hardin County Sheriff's Office, and the District Attorney's Office for the 24th Judicial District in Tennessee.

Assistant United States Attorneys Josh Morrow and Caroline Parish are prosecuting this case on behalf of the government.

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