The closely‑connected Virginia high school that employed head football coach Travis Turner was shaken by a comparable sex‑related scandal involving another coach two years earlier.
In 2023, Timothy Lee Meador, a teacher and coach at Union High School, pleaded guilty to charges of child solicitation and indecent liberties, as reported by ABC 7. At the time, Meador was 28, barred from the school that serves roughly 600 students in Big Stone Gap, and served just over a year in prison.
There’s no record of the exact sport Meador coached, but he worked at Union High while Turner was the football head coach. The latest accusations against a school employee mirror the earlier case in startling ways.
Turner, 46, is now a fugitive with five counts of soliciting a minor via computer and five counts of child pornography, according to the Virginia State Police. A Union High staff member was recently put on leave, though the school has not confirmed if that individual is Turner.
Unlike Meador, who was caught, Turner disappeared on Thursday as officers approached his home in nearby Appalachia to question him. He remains missing after a search of the rugged countryside has yet to uncover any leads.
Initially, police said they simply wanted to question him and had not charged him, but on Tuesday they declared him a fugitive and will file charges if he is found.
Turner’s family denies the allegations. “None of that is true. He’s a good dad and a good husband,” his wife, Leslie, told the Daily Mail. “We want him home. That’s it,” she added. “We are all just hanging in there until we get news.”
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