Eric Daniel Collett

DALTON, Ga — A Dalton man pleaded guilty to aggravated sexual battery on Wednesday in Superior Court in Whitfield County and was sentenced to 10 years in prison without parole followed by life on probation, the district attorney said.

Eric Daniel Collett, 29, must also register as a sex offender and abide by sex offender and other conditions.

Collett faced charges of rape, aggravated child molestation, seven counts of child molestation, aggravated sexual battery and two counts of sexual battery against a child under the age of 16. He was arrested by the Whitfield County Sheriff’s Office on Jan. 4, 2018, after a female juvenile said he was “touching me and doing dirty things to me,” according to an incident/investigation report.

Authorities began investigating on Dec. 29, 2017, after the juvenile’s grandmother met with a deputy.