LEBANON — A former reality television personality was sentenced Nov. 10 to life in prison with the possibility of parole after 15 years for sexually abusing a 5-year-old girl, the Cincinnati Enquirer reported.
Tony McCollister, 44, was sentenced by Warren County Common Pleas Judge Robert Peeler, according to the Cincinnati Enquirer. His former partner, Erica Grove, 43, received a seven-year prison term. At the end of a bench trial in October, the judge found McCollister guilty of rape, gross sexual imposition and child endangering, and Grove guilty of gross sexual imposition and child endangering, the Enquirer reported. McCollister had also pleaded guilty ahead of trial to charges of possessing child sexual abuse material and sexual conduct with animals, and Grove pleaded guilty to charges involving sexual conduct with animals, according to the Cincinnati Enquirer.
McCollister starred in A&E’s “Neighbors with Benefits,” a 2015 reality show about married couples in extramarital relationships in Warren County that was canceled after two episodes, the Cincinnati Enquirer reported. The show portrayed McCollister and his then-wife as leaders of a swingers group in their Thornton Grove neighborhood.
The investigation began in June 2025, when Google submitted a tip to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children and the Warren County Sheriff’s Office began investigating, according to the Cincinnati Enquirer. Prosecutors said in court that the couple exchanged thousands of text messages about abusing the girl. Assistant Warren County Prosecutor Julie Kraft told the court the two were involved in what she called a “world of deviant sexual behaviors,” the Enquirer reported. “They’re both deviant,” Kraft said, according to the Cincinnati Enquirer. “They both engaged in these acts together.” Both defendants were acquitted of a felony charge of corrupting another person with drugs, the Enquirer reported.
Assistant Prosecutor Kevin Hardman urged the maximum sentence, telling the judge McCollister should spend his life where he cannot harm another child, according to the Cincinnati Enquirer. Prosecutors had sought life without parole for McCollister and 10 years for Grove, the Enquirer reported. McCollister’s attorney, Joshua Engel, told the court his client had suffered extreme childhood trauma and had voluntarily spoken with investigators against his lawyer’s advice, according to the Cincinnati Enquirer. McCollister told the judge he was trying to own what he had done, the Enquirer reported. Grove told the court she had no sexual interest in children and described McCollister as abusive and controlling, according to the Cincinnati Enquirer.
In a statement read aloud by video call, the girl’s father said she will likely need a lifetime of therapy and now suffers night terrors, according to the Cincinnati Enquirer. The family has relocated to Washington over concerns for her safety and well-being in Ohio, the Enquirer reported. “No sentence can undo what happened,” the father said, according to the Cincinnati Enquirer, adding that he wants his daughter to grow up knowing she was believed and that those responsible were held accountable.
If he is ever released, McCollister will have to register as a sex offender for life, and Grove will be on the sex offender registry for 25 years, according to the Cincinnati Enquirer. With the sentences imposed, the criminal case that began with a June 2025 tip is concluded in Warren County Common Pleas Court, subject to any appeals the defendants may file.