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Virginia football coach Travis Turner wanted for child sex charges was on paid leave days after he fled police

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Virginia football coach Travis Turner wanted for child sex charges was on paid leave days after he fled police


Fugitive football coach Travis Turner was still being paid by his Virginia high school employer days after he fled from cops seeking to question him over alleged child sex crimes.

The alarming news comes as it becomes clear Turner also taught classes at Union High School in Big Stone Gap, and would have had regular access to the student body.

Turner, 46, was on “paid administrative leave” as of Monday — at least four days after he apparently split town while cops were on the way to question him over accusations he possessed child porn and tried to have sex with a minor.

Travis Turner, 46, has been missing since Thursday. He was being paid by the school district as of Monday. Facebook/Leslie Turner

It’s unclear when his paid leave actually began, but Wise County Public Schools said Monday it was spurred by an “allegation that was reported to the division.”

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That means Turner was being paid while the school district was aware allegations of child sex crimes had been made against its star football coach — who had also gone missing in the thick of a police investigation into those same allegations days earlier.

Turner — longtime coach for Union High, and a local celebrity in the football-loving community of Big Stone Gap — seemingly vanished without a trace and authorities have released little information on the investigation or updates on the search.

Even less is known about the charges against him, and in the absence of official information, some in the tight-knit community have begun to whisper that claims of misconduct about Turner have swirled for years.

Turner also taught physical education at Union High School, putting him in regular contact with many students. Union High School / Facebook

The alleged sex offender and dad of three wasn’t just a coach spending his days with a small group of football players.

Turner was also a physical education teacher at the school of about 600 students, which requires most of its coaches to also teach.

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That means he would have had regular contact with kids from across the student body on a daily basis.

Turner’s family has strongly denied the allegations against him, saying that he is a good family man and that they only want to see him safely back home.

Travis Turner has been a revered head coach at the small Virginia high school for over a decade. Leslie Caudill Turner / Facebook

His charges were announced by Virginia State Police late Monday after his paid leave was confirmed. The school district later updated its statement to acknowledge charges against “a staff member who has been on administrative leave.”

But his place at the center of an alarming investigation was public knowledge by Saturday — two days after he’d gone missing and two days after the school confirmed he was on paid leave.

“The individual remains on leave and is not permitted on school property or to have contact with students,” the district reiterated Tuesday, declining to clarify whether he was being paid.

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Wise County also declined to provide a timeline of when it knew about the allegations against Turner, the nature of the investigation into him, or his flight.



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Southwest, Central Virginia Weather | 11 p.m. – May 20, 2026

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Southwest, Central Virginia Weather | 11 p.m. – May 20, 2026


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At WSLS, we are committed to informing and delighting our audience. In our commitment to covering our communities with innovation and excellence, we incorporate Artificial Intelligence (AI) technologies to enhance our news gathering, reporting, and presentation processes. Read our article to see how we are using Artificial Intelligence.



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Summer travel season kicks off with high fuel prices across Virginia

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Summer travel season kicks off with high fuel prices across Virginia


More than a million Virginians are expected to hit the road for Memorial Day weekend — despite rising gas prices.

Right now, the state average is around $4.30 a gallon. That’s 50 percent higher than it was three months ago, before the war in Iran.

Right now, it will cost you $4.29 a gallon to fill up at the 76 on Langhorne Road. And prices could keep climbing, potentially making this the most expensive summer at the pump in years.

GasBuddy says the national average could hit $4.48 a gallon by Memorial Day, a big jump from $3.14 this time last year.

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Prices may keep rising, averaging around $4.80 a gallon throughout the summer.

SEE ALSO: Veto halts bipartisan push to lower medication prices in Virginia

Despite this, experts say many Virginians are still willing to hit the road for the holiday weekend. They are just finding alternative ways to save.

Patrick De Haan, petroleum analyst at GasBuddy, said, “If you’re driving long distances, going 65 miles an hour instead of 75 can boost your fuel efficiency 10 to 25%. The equivalent of getting two gallons for free when you fill up.”

Unfortunately, there is no guarantee when these prices will drop. That is why experts say you should plan ahead and shop around. You can also save by filling up earlier in the week.

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A Republican mocked a child over ‘propaganda.’ Ironic. | Opinion

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A Republican mocked a child over ‘propaganda.’ Ironic. | Opinion



Instead of being supportive of the child’s educational endeavors or simply not responding, Republican Rep. Virginia Foxx chose this moment to respond with vitriol.

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Rep. Virginia Foxx, R-North Carolina, taught a child a very important lesson. You’re never too young to learn that politicians will fail you.

Foxx made headlines in May when she responded to a 10-year-old Greensboro student named Christian Mango, who wrote to the congresswoman proposing a $5,000 tax credit for people buying electric vehicles. Christian sent the letter as part of a school project where the kids were challenged to write persuasive essays on topics of their choosing.

Instead of being supportive of the child’s educational endeavors or simply not responding, Foxx chose this moment to respond with vitriol, according to a letter dated May 1 that Christian’s mother, Emily, shared on social media.

“Please ask your teacher to explain propaganda to you,” Foxx wrote. “While I will never be able to know, my guess is that your teachers will not give you a good educational experience and help you learn to think, as they are too interested in indoctrinating you. How sad.”

This would be a wild response to receive as any constituent – let alone one who’s still in elementary school. Foxx – a former educator and the former chair of the Committee on Education and the Workforce – should know that the best answer to someone you disagree with is no response. Especially if the person you disagree with is a 10-year-old.

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But beyond the embarrassing decision to respond in such a hateful way, there’s irony in Foxx’s response. She is clearly unable to see that the real “propaganda” in this country is coming from the mouth of President Donald Trump and members of the Republican Party. If there is anybody who knows what propaganda looks like, it’s the Republicans.

What is propaganda anyway? Here’s what Republicans have been up to.

In the interest of educating all of us, I decided to look up the term “propaganda” in the dictionary. According to Merriam-Webster, “propaganda” is “the spreading of ideas, information, or rumors for the purpose of helping or injuring an institution, a cause, or a person.” 

What does that look like? Well, it looks like everything we’ve seen out of President Donald Trump’s Republican Party for the last decade.

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“Propaganda” is Trump’s insistence that he is always right. It’s him putting his name and face on everything. It’s him lying about an election being stolen for years. It’s harming media institutions that call lies into question, calling them the “enemy of the American people.”

It is disparaging immigrants as the source of the country’s problems. It’s using extremist rhetoric in White House communications. It’s posting an AI image depicting yourself as Jesus.

It’s lying to Americans about an economy that is clearly flatlining, that you claim is the best it’s ever been. It’s making promises you can’t deliver on. It’s claiming that tariffs will save the country while costs are simultaneously pushed onto consumers. It’s claiming huge trade deals with China without elaborating on the details. It’s saying gas prices are down when they’re not. This is all propaganda, and it’s affecting the day-to-day lives of Americans who take him at his word.

The GOP has mastered propaganda. They have convinced their supporters that they are the sole saviors of the nation, that they are the only ones who can make America great again, while they’re aggressively making it worse. Meanwhile, educators in this country have to deal with attacks on their profession while making a dismal salary and teaching children that their voices can make a difference.

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North Carolina deserves better than Virginia Foxx

Christian’s mother was rightfully angry about the letter in her Instagram post.

“This is a totally inappropriate response to one of her youngest constituents,” Mango wrote. “Clearly she is out of touch. I’m embarrassed that she represents NC.”

Unfortunately, the congresswoman has a history of embarrassing remarks and controversies. She once said that Matthew Shepard’s death was a “hoax,” for which she later apologized. She used a racial epithet on the House floor in 2009. In the aftermath of the Capitol storming on January 6, 2021, Foxx was fined $5,000 for failing to go through metal detectors to get to the House floor. She’s been a loose cannon, and this incident is not out of character.

I’ve long wondered what it would take for Foxx to lose re-election in North Carolina’s fifth district. It seems that, like Trump, no reprehensible comment or behavior is enough to warrant her ouster from Congress. But the people here deserve better than a politician who talks down to anyone she disagrees with. Lord knows they deserve better than someone who chooses to have beef with a fourth grader instead of doing literally anything else that would improve the quality of life in the state.

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I hope this incident peels back the curtain and shows Foxx’s constituents who she really is. I just doubt it’ll make much of a difference.

In the meantime, I’m sure Christian and his mother will find comfort in the fact that Republicans are making sure kids everywhere learn exactly what propaganda is.

Follow USA TODAY columnist Sara Pequeño on Bluesky: @sarapequeno.bsky.social





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