Accused child rapist wanted in Tennessee captured in Connecticut

A fugitive facing several counts of raping a child in Tennessee was arrested Tuesday in Connecticut.

Kody Tyler Stewart, 30, was wanted on multiple charges of sexual assault involving a minor, Connecticut State Police said Wednesday in a press release.

Stewart was taken into custody at a home in Old Lyme. A child was also found inside the home, as well as “an unsecured, unregistered firearm” the child could have easily accessed, according to police.

Connecticut cops said they were contacted Monday morning by police in Chattanooga, Tenn., alerting them that Stewart was possibly staying in Old Lyme, about 30 miles east of New Haven.

Officers went to the suspected residence, but Stewart wasn’t there. Investigators determined he would likely return the next day.

Cops arrested Stewart at the home at around 8 a.m. Tuesday. He was apprehended without incident.

Stewart was wanted in Tennessee on eight counts of rape of a child, five counts of aggravated sexual battery, two counts of solicitation of a minor and a single count each of continuous sexual abuse of a child, attempted rape of a child and sexual contact with a minor, the Hartford Courant reported.

In Connecticut, he was charged as a fugitive from justice. He was also hit with charged of risk of injury to a minor and reckless endangerment for leaving the unsecured gun in the house with a child, state police said.

Stewart did not post his $510,000 bond. His arraignment was scheduled for Wednesday.

Stewart is a resident of Lamar County, Miss., according to police, a town near the state’s border with Tennessee but 200 miles west of Chattanooga.