Judge Robert Peeler found Tony McCollister guilty of raping a 5-year-old child after a three-day bench trial in Warren County.

Peeler delivered the verdict Thursday, Oct. 1, in Warren County Court of Common Pleas, convicting McCollister on one count of rape, three counts of gross sexual imposition and two counts of endangering children, WCPO reported.

McCollister, 43, of Union Township, had already pleaded guilty to 17 additional counts when his trial began Sept. 28. Those included 13 counts of pandering sexually oriented matter involving a minor and four counts of sexual conduct with an animal, according to Fox 19.

Peeler acquitted McCollister on three other rape counts, two counts of gross sexual imposition, one count of endangering children and one count of corrupting another with drugs. On the drug count, the judge noted no drugs were found in the child's system.

"The state has acknowledged that this was based in part on fantasy, so the challenge for the court was to separate the fact from the fantasy," Peeler said after delivering the verdict, according to WCPO.

The judge said he reviewed thousands of text messages exchanged between McCollister and co-defendant Erica Grove. The defense had argued the graphic messages were sexual fantasy and role-playing, not evidence of actual abuse. As we reported Sept. 30, McCollister's defense team pressed that argument at trial.

The key difference was McCollister's own words. Peeler said McCollister's confessions during interviews with prosecutors separated his case from Grove's.

Grove, 43, also of Union Township, was convicted the previous week on two counts of gross sexual imposition and two counts of child endangering but acquitted on all four rape charges. In that verdict, Peeler said the text messages alone were not enough to convict. "It is fundamental a civilized society is not punished for thoughts alone," Peeler said Sept. 24 while delivering his verdict in Grove's case, according to WCPO.

McCollister and Grove will be sentenced together in November, Peeler decided, according to WLWT.

The investigation began in June 2025 when Google submitted a tip to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) about possible child sexual abuse material linked to an IP address associated with McCollister. NCMEC forwarded the tip to the Ohio Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, which sent it to the Warren County Sheriff's Office, according to a press release from Warren County Prosecutor David P. Fornshell.

Sheriff's detectives obtained search warrants and found video files of McCollister and Grove engaged in sexual conduct with two dogs. Investigators later uncovered evidence that the pair drugged a female child under six years old for the purpose of sexual assault, the prosecutor's office said.

A Warren County grand jury indicted McCollister on 30 charges in February 2026.

McCollister appeared on the A&E reality show "Neighbors with Benefits" in 2015. The show, which documented the lives of swinger couples in Warren County, was pulled after two episodes.

Anyone with information about child exploitation can submit a tip to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children at CyberTipline.org or call 1-800-843-5678.