State corrections officer arrested in child exploitation investigation

A state corrections officer from Roan Mountain is facing charges in a child exploitation investigation. The TBI said a joint investigation by its Cybercrime and Digital Evidence Unit and the Weakley County, Tennessee Sheriff’s Office led to the arrest of 22 year old, Hunter Chase Ellison. TBI began working with Weakley County investigators in February to investigate a report of a 9-year-old sending child sex abuse material to an adult male via Snapchat. Investigators identified Ellison as the Snapchat account user. At the time of the alleged crime, Ellison was employed as a corrections officer at the Northeast Correctional Complex in Mountain City. Ellison is charged with especially aggravated sexual exploitation of a minor and solicitation of a minor by electronic means. He was arrested Friday and taken to the Johnson County Jail.