Bus driver’s rape charge is sent to grand jury
NASHVILLE — A General Sessions Court judge sent Johnthony Walker’s rape case to a grand jury after a short preliminary hearing here Thursday.
Davidson County prosecutors called one witness in their aggravated statutory rape charge against the 25-year-old, who was convicted and sentenced earlier this year as the driver in the 2016 Tall- ey Road crash in Chattanooga that killed six Woodmore Elementary School students.
Nashville Metro Police Officer David Slessinger said Walker admitted to him on June 14 that he’d had consensual sex five times with a 14-yearold girl while he was staying in the city on bond. Slessinger said the minor’s family called 911 after confronting her about their suspicions, and that she came clean to them.
During their interview, Walker said their relationship began in April or May, around the time he was sentenced to four years in prison for the Woodmore crash, though he couldn’t recall specific dates or times for all but one of their sexual incidents. Slessinger said Walker appeared distraught, telling him at one point that “looking back, I found it repulsive that this has happened.”
Walker spoke to Slessinger without an attorney present and also wrote a one-page apology to the victim, the sex crimes officer said. Walker also turned over his cellphone, which contained text messages between Walker and the minor, and at least one picture, Slessinger said.
Walker’s public defender, Keeda Haynes, noted that no part of Slessinger’s investigation showed anything coercive. Aggravated statutory rape is a Class D felony with a maximum punishment up to 12 years in prison. It’s used when
a victim is at least 13 years old but under 18 and when the alleged offender is at least 10 years older than the victim.
Haynes didn’t make any arguments Thursday, and Assistant District Attorney Jan Norman only mentioned that Slessinger’s testimony established probable cause for Walker’s charge. All the state needs to show during this preliminary hearing is probable cause that a crime occurred and that Walker committed it.
At the end of the hearing, Davidson County General Sessions Judge Allegra Walker agreed there was probable cause and sent Walker’s charge to a grand jury. If he is indicted, his case will continue onto Davidson County Criminal Court, where he can formally plead guilty or not guilty to the charge.
In the meantime, he is being held on a $350,000 bond. Walker previously made a reduced $50,000 bond in the fall of 2017 in the Woodmore Elementary School case, and a Hamilton County judge allowed him to remain on his ankle monitor in April as he appealed his case.