The family of a missing Virginia high school football coach accused of possessing child pornography and soliciting a minor is now urging him to come home and face the allegations.
Travis Turner, 46, has not been seen since Nov. 20, when he left his home in Appalachia, Virginia, near the state’s border with North Carolina. His family has said that he left home with a gun but without daily essentials, such as his medications, contacts or keys, and urged him Wednesday to come home and defend himself against the allegations in a court of law.
“If Travis has the ability and is able to respond to his family’s wishes; your wife and children are in distress. Leslie pleads for you to come home and face the allegations by defending yourself in a court of law. Don’t leave your family to fight this battle without you. They love and miss you. They want you to know they are your support,” attorney Adrian Collins, who is representing the Turner family, said in a statement to WCYB-TV.
His wife, Leslie Turner, previously denied the allegations of child pornography possession and said she did not know anything regarding the allegations of solicitation. Virginia State Police visited the Turner residence on the day Mr. Turner went missing but only to ask him questions.
“Criminal charges were not obtained against Travis until days after he failed to return home. He was not a fugitive nor wanted by law enforcement at the time he went missing. His wife was not helping him escape, she was asking for help to find him,” Mr. Collins told WCYB-TV.
After he went missing, authorities charged him with five counts each of possession of child pornography and soliciting a minor.
The U.S. Marshals Service offered a $5,000 reward for information leading to his arrest Monday, describing Mr. Turner as White, 6 feet, 3 inches tall and weighing 235 pounds, with brown eyes and brown hair.
Mr. Turner’s employer, Wise County Public Schools, put him on administrative leave in light of the allegations and his disappearance; he is barred from the grounds of Union High School in Big Stone Gap, Virginia, and from contacting students.
Amid the whole situation, Mr. Turner’s undefeated football team advanced through the state playoffs. The team played in the Virginia High School League Class 2 semifinal at home against Glenvar High School from near West Virginia’s southern border with Virginia on Saturday, losing 21-20, according to high school sports news site MaxPreps.
