Judge orders doctor charged with rape to be held without bond

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

A Columbia doctor charged with rape will be held without bond for now.

Travis M. Birkhead, 37, of Columbia is charged with first-degree rape or attempted rape and fourth-degree assault in Boone County. Judge Kimberly Shaw ordered him held without bond during his initial court appearance Thursday afternoon.

Shaw ordered a bond investigation and set a bond hearing for Nov. 1. A preliminary hearing is set for Nov. 30.

Investigators saw Birkhead on security camera footage leading a woman from a bar into a parking lot Saturday, according to a probable cause statement. Birkhead would eventually lead the victim to a wooded area behind the bar in Columbia, police say. According to court documents, the security camera footage showed the victim was unable to stand on her feet and was dragging them while being led into the woods. 

Records show that an hour later Birkhead allegedly returned to his vehicle and left the area. 

The probable cause statement states that Birkhead later sent a text message to a friend of the victim telling them about having sex with the victim.

Birkhead was charged in a separate case with violating a protection order on Sept. 9, harassment and stalking on Sept. 19 and a violation of a protection order on Oct. 10.  

Birkhead is licensed in Missouri as a physician practicing at 2475 Broadway Bluffs Drive in Columbia. His license was granted in March and remains active. He was formerly licensed in Kansas.

A person who answered the phone at the Columbia practice hung up on an ABC 17 News reporter.

He was being held Thursday in the Boone County Jail.

Police arrested Birkhead on Wednesday in the 2400 block of Broadway Bluffs Drive.