Tampa man could face death penalty in connection with capital sexual battery charges
Tampa man charged with producing child pornography
A Tampa man is now facing the possibility of the death penalty after prosecutors charged him with capital sexual battery, child molestation and more than 200 counts related to the possession and production of child pornography. FOX 13's Aaron Mesmer reports.
TAMPA - A Tampa man is now facing the possibility of the death penalty after prosecutors charged him with capital sexual battery, child molestation and more than 200 counts related to the possession and production of child pornography.
The backstory:
Christopher Jollimore made his first court appearance on Friday, a proceeding that lasted less than a minute. But prosecutors say the trauma he allegedly caused his young victims could last a lifetime.
According to court documents, Jollimore is accused of sexually abusing at least five children between the ages of 2 and 10. Prosecutors say he knew the victims prior to the alleged abuse, although the exact nature of their relationship remains unclear.
The Hillsborough County State Attorney’s Office alleges that Jollimore not only molested the children but also produced explicit material involving them.
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"These children tend to trust adults and it’s usually those trusted adults who are perpetrating," said Gina Dickerson, Sexual Assault Services Director at the Crisis Center of Tampa Bay. "They take advantage of the closeness of that relationship."
Dickerson added that cases like this often impact not just the child victims, but their families as well.
"I like to tell parents or guardians, it's not your fault," she said. "This person has perpetrated on the guardians too."
She emphasized the importance of long-term trauma care for both children and their families. "We want to focus first on that trauma and reducing those symptoms for the kids and the parents too."
Courtesy: Hillsborough County Jail
What's next:
If the death penalty is pursued, it would mark the first time the Hillsborough State Attorney’s Office has sought such a sentence in a capital sexual battery case since the law was enacted in 2023.
Jollimore is scheduled to return to court next week for his pretrial detention hearing.
The Source: This story was written with information from court documents connected to Christopher Jollimore’s case and the Crisis Center of Tampa Bay.