Soddy Daisy man arrested on rape and kidnapping charges
SODDY DAISY, Tenn. (WDEF) — A Soddy Daisy man has been arrested and is being charged with rape and aggravated assault.
Officers with the Soddy Daisy Police Department (SDPD) responded to 349 Poplar Street at 1:26 a.m. on June 25, 2024.
The report involved a 16-year-old girl being held against her will at a neighbor’s home.
Upon arrival, officers spoke with the girl’s father and her 14-year-old brother.
The brother told police that he and his sister had gone to their neighbor Travis Walsingham’s house to escape an argument between their father and his father’s girlfriend.
TRAVIS WALSINGHAM
While at Walsingham’s residence, the brother stated that Walsingham took his sister into a bedroom and physically blocked him from entering.
When Walsingham entered the room, the brother returned home to inform his father of the incident.
He also showed his father screenshots of messages between Walsingham and the 16-year-old on social media.
Officers attempted to make contact Walsingham outside the residence but were unsuccessful.
Concerned for the girl’s safety, they forced entry into the home.
Walsingham was detained and denied communicating with the 16-year-old on social media.
According to the affidavit, the girl initially told officers she had gone to Walsingham’s residence to get away from the fighting and that nothing had happened between them.
However, she later admitted that Walsingham gave her a lemon-flavored drink containing an unknown substance.
Walsingham then proceeded to take her into the bedroom and “forced her to do things with him”.
When officers asked the girl to clarify, she stated that he “took both of their clothes off and was lying on top of her kissing on her.”
She then stated that he told her what to say to authorities, and demanded her go to another room.
On January 28, 2025 Walsingham was indicted on 2 counts of rape and one count of aggravated kidnapping.
He was arrested on February 3, 2025.
