NEWPORT NEWS, Va. - A Newport News substitute bus driver arrested for allegedly sending inappropriate and sexual text messages to a teenager faced a judge at a preliminary hearing Wednesday morning.
Back in October, 54-year-old Timothy Mears Dixon was arrested and charged with one count each of use of communication systems to facilitate certain offenses involving children, and contributing to the delinquency of a minor.
Dixon entered no plea on either of his charges Wednesday.
Search warrants say the two met on an app called Whisper. After talking through the app they exchanged cell phone numbers and continued talking through text messages. According to court documents, one of the text messages read "what if I held you down and raped you". The other text message mentioned in documents is too graphic to publish.
A detective took the stand Wednesday and said Dixon and the victim had two encounters, one in which he gave the victim alcohol and cigarettes. During the second encounter, Dixon drove the victim to his house and snuck the victim through his bedroom window while his kids were in the house.
Newport News City Public Schools confirms Dixon has served as a substitute bus driver with the school system since December 2013. He has been suspended without pay.
Dixon's estranged wife would not go on camera, but she told News 3 she was "shocked because he has never been in this type of trouble before" and called the situation "weird."
Dixon's next court date has not yet been set, but must be done by February 12.
