Father of Willis Clan band charged in child rape case

Toby Willis, part of a singing group forever tied to a Chicago family’s tragedy, has been charged in an ongoing child rape investigation, according to the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation.

Police arrested Willis, 46, on Sept. 9, in Greenville, Kentucky, after learning he had allegedly had a “sexual encounter approximately 12 years ago with an underage female,” according to the Bureau’s press release.

At the time of his arrest, Willis had traveled to Greenville “in an effort to avoid law enforcement,” investigators said.

Willis was expected to be returned to Cheatham County, Tennessee, in the coming days, according to the Bureau.

Willis is the father of the family band, The Willis Clan, a Tennessee-based group with their own reality TV show on TLC.

Toby Willis lost six siblings in 1994 when a van driven by his father hit a stray truck part south of Milwaukee and burst into flames. The tragedy became the symbol of the licenses-for-bribes scandal that eventually took down former Illinois Gov. George Ryan.