NASHVILLE – A General Sessions Court judge sent Johnthony Walker’s rape case to a grand jury after a short preliminary hearing here on Thursday.
Davidson County prosecutors called one witness in their aggravated statutory rape charge against the 25-year-old, who was also convicted and sentenced earlier this year as the driver in the 2016 Talley 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-year-old 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. He also turned over his cellphone, which contained text messages between Walker and the minor, and at least one picture, Slessinger said.