Oliver case bound over to the Grand Jury in Sequatchie County

Sequatchie County courtroom

Donald Brent Oliver, the Sparta man that was fired from his job as an athletic trainer in Sequatchie County School System and arrested on charges of sexual exploitation of a minor and sexual activity with animals, has had his bond set at $50,000.

During Oliver’s preliminary hearing in Sequatchie County Court, on July 24, 2025, his hearing was waived, and his case was bound over to Grand Jury. Conditions of his bond included no contact with the victims of his crime. His next appearance date is set for Sept. 26, 2025.

Oliver’s charges are defined below, according to Tennessee Code Annotated:     

39-14-214. Criminal offenses against animals.

(a) A person commits an offense who knowingly:

(1) Engages in any sexual activity with an animal;

(2) Causes, aids, or abets another person to engage in any sexual activity with an animal;

(3) Permits any sexual activity with an animal to be conducted on any premises under the person’s charge or control;

(4) Engages in, organizes, promotes, conducts, advertises, aids, abets, participates in as an observer, or performs any service in the furtherance of an act involving any sexual activity with an animal for a commercial or recreational purpose; or

(5) Photographs or films, for purposes of sexual gratification, a person engaged in a sexual activity with an animal.

(b) A violation of this section is a Class E felony.

39-17-1003. Offense of sexual exploitation of a minor.

(a) It is unlawful for any person to knowingly possess material that includes a minor engaged in:

(1) Sexual activity; or

(2) Simulated sexual activity that is patently offensive.

(b) A person possessing material that violates subsection (a) may be charged in a separate count for each individual image, picture, drawing, photograph, motion picture film, videocassette tape, or other pictorial representation. Where the number of materials possessed is greater than fifty (50), the person may be charged in a single count to enhance the class of offense under subsection (d).

(c) In a prosecution under this section, the trier of fact may consider the title, text, visual representation, internet history, physical development of the person depicted, expert medical testimony, expert computer forensic testimony, and any other relevant evidence, in determining whether a person knowingly possessed the material, or in determining whether the material or image otherwise represents or depicts that a participant is a minor.

(d) A violation of this section is a Class D felony; however, if the number of individual images, materials, or combination of images and materials, that are possessed is more than fifty (50), then the offense shall be a Class C felony. If the number of individual images, materials, or combination of images and materials, exceeds one hundred (100), the offense shall be a Class B felony.

(e) In a prosecution under this section, the state is not required to prove the actual identity or age of the minor.

(f) It shall not be a defense to a violation of this section that a minor victim of the offense consented to the conduct that constituted the offense.