In a troubling development, the Virginia school district that employed missing football coach Travis Turner also hired a teacher implicated in pedophilia.
As reported, the U.S. Marshals Service is offering a $5,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of Travis Turner, who faces child pornography charges in Big Stone Gap, Virginia.
According to sources, at least three other teachers in the Wise County public school system have been charged with child sex crimes over the past five years, including two who were convicted, prior to Turner’s case coming to light.
The district, which focuses heavily on athletics, comprises 13 schools and serves around 5,500 students.
One of the charged individuals, Dalton Matthew Bates, who led middle school bands, was arrested in 2020 for conspiring to share inappropriate photos of students. “I got a job teaching middle school,” Bates reportedly wrote on Snapchat, expressing an internal struggle against temptation.
Bates faced 20 counts of possessing child pornography, but eventually pled guilty to 10 counts, receiving a sentence that allowed for immediate release due to time served.
In 2023, another staff member at Turner’s school, Timothy Lee Meador, was found guilty of child solicitation and spent over a year in prison.
Additionally, Tyler Jay Tibbs, a teacher at Coeburn Middle School, was indicted on three counts related to sexual acts with minors, and was released on a $25,000 bail.
At a recent Wise County School Board meeting, a concerned parent accused the community of fostering a culture of abuse, stating, “When you have this much abuse, it’s not just a few bad apples. It’s a culture. The fish rots from the top down.” This sentiment reflects a growing concern about the frequency of such incidents in the district.
