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Sometimes, we call the crimes that people commit against society’s most vulnerable “unspeakable.”
In this case, however, one adult woman could — and should — have taken action, including just speaking, to protect her child.
Instead, an Oklahoma mom has been convicted on seven counts after her 11-year-old daughter gave birth at home.
Her husband has already been sentenced. But his crimes would not have been possible without her help.
What happened to this child is a sequence of horrors
On Friday, July 17, Cherie Walker was convicted on one count of enabling child sexual abuse and six counts of child neglect.
Prosecutors have recommended a sentence of life in prison on each count.
Walker is currently awaiting sentencing.
The trial, which took place in Muskogee County, Oklahoma, included four days of testimony from emergency responders, law enforcement officers, medical professionals, Department of Human Services employees, and family members.
Sure enough, the jury convicted Walker on all 7 counts.
In August 2025, authorities learned that an 11-year-old girl had given birth inside the family home without any prenatal care or medical assistance.
They launched an investigation, for multiple obvious reasons.
DNA testing confirmed that Dustin Walker was the father.
In March, Dustin pleaded guilty to one count of sexual abuse of a child under 12 and six counts of child neglect.
He received a prison sentence of life for the CSA conviction. Additionally, he received consecutive prison terms for the neglect convictions.
He did not do this alone
Prosecutors alleged that Cherie knew that her husband was sexually abusing their daughter and failed to protect her.
Sometimes, parents in these cases argue that the predator kept it a secret from them.
(Some even genuinely convince themselves that they didn’t really know.)
But when an 11-year-old child gives birth, there is no longer any doubt about what has happened to the child. There is also generally a very narrow suspect pool.
Walker presumably had months of her daughter’s pregnancy to seek justice for her, to contact the authorities with the obvious evidence of her husband’s crimes. Instead, she forced her child to give birth without medical care, attempting to shield the monster in the house from harm.
In the course of the investigation, another adult has been charged.
Michelle Justus is the victim’s grandmother.
She has pleaded not guilty to a charge of child neglect.
Her trial was set to begin on Thursday, July 23. We do not yet know the results.
It is clear that many adults failed this child, as did society at large. Her life has been forever altered, as has the life of her baby. The least that we can do, now, is seek justice for her.
