The legal troubles just continue to mount for former Durham School Services bus driver Johnthony Walker, 26, who was charged with one count of aggravated statutory rape, a Class D felony, after police were called to a disturbance at a residence in Nashville Davidson County, according to news accounts. Today, June 18, his court date was continued to Thursday, June 21, it was reported.
He was “arrested Thursday in Nashville, where he was free on bond (reportedly $350,000) while appealing his March conviction on charges of criminally negligent homicide and assault in the bus crash in Chattanooga,” reported FoxNews. “Hamilton County district attorney general spokeswoman Melydia Clewell says the judge had let Walker stay out of town with ankle monitoring,” said AP. Also, earlier this week, Judge Don Poole denied Walker’s request for a sentence reduction.
Walker convicted in March of criminally negligent homicide and sentenced in April to four years in prison for his role in the Nov. 21, 2016 school bus crash near Chattanooga, which resulted in six student fatalities and two dozen injuries.
The latest arrest warrant affidavit signed by judge Ed Hastings said, “The defendant stated he has been staying with the victim’s family for the last few months. During that time, he and the 14 year old began a consensual sexual relationship. The defendant admitted to engaging in penile vaginal sex with the victim at the residence in Davidson County on 5 occasions. The defendant in this matter is 26 years of age and the victim is 14 years of age.”
Earlier Friday, the Hamilton County District Attorney General Neal Pinkston’s office filed a motion to revoke his bond.
If convicted of the new charge, Walker may have to register as a sex offender, and he faces up to 12 years in prison.
Death threats were also reportedly made against Walker, which “encouraged him to stay somewhere outside of Chattanooga.”
