Haines City man is accused in kidnapping, rape of girl, 16

BARTOW — A Haines City man has been arrested on allegations he raped a 16-year-old girl after she told authorities he bound her wrists and ankles with packaging tape and repeatedly punched her in the face during the attack. Travis Burton, 30, was arrested Saturday on charges of sexual battery on a child aged 12 to 17 and armed kidnapping. On Monday, authorities brought additional allegations of burglary, aggravated child abuse and soliciting for prostitution against him.

Polk County deputies said that he had responded to the victim’s online offer of sex for money and met her at a vacant house in Haines City that his his stepfather owns.

The girl told deputies he had agreed to pay her $300 but began hitting her in the face soon after she arrived. He bound her with clear tape and cut her panties off with a knife, according to the arrest affidavit.

“According to the victim, the suspect held a knife blade to her throat and held her in a bathroom while she was bound with tape and tied up,” the arrest affidavit states.

He sexually assaulted her multiple times before tying a rope around her neck and forcing her to walk out to his truck, the report states. The girl told deputies he drove to an orange grove, where he sexually assaulted her again.

She then texted a friend and asked him to call 911, which he did. During the search for her, a Sheriff’s Office helicopter pilot discovered the truck in the grove.

Deputies found the girl asleep in the truck with the rope still around her neck, the affidavit states. They found Burton walking in the orange grove and took him into custody.

Burton is being held in the Polk County Jail without bond.