Inset, top to bottom: Cherie Walker and Dustin Walker (Muskogee County Jail). Background: The home where the Walkers’ 11-year-old child gave birth over the weekend (KJRH).
In Oklahoma, a mother and stepfather have been detained for allegedly permitting their 11-year-old daughter to become pregnant and deliver the baby at home without any medical professionals present.
Dustin Walker and Cherie Walker were both taken into custody this week and charged with one count each of felony child neglect.
The victim is the oldest of six children who lived in the home with the Walkers but have since been removed, Tulsa NBC affiliate KJRH reported.
Though authorities have provided minimal details regarding the situation leading to the child’s pregnancy, a reporter from the station interviewed the victim’s grandmother, who claimed the family was unaware of any problem.
“I want everyone to understand, we did not know this was happening. None of us,” said the grandmother, who gave her name only as “Michelle.” “They’ve painted my daughter and son-in-law as monsters. They are not. They love those children. They truly do.”
Michelle also provided a possible explanation for the juvenile’s pregnancy.
“She [the victim] keeps telling us it was a young 12-year-old boy I used to care for — a child I previously babysat,” she told the station. “She consistently says it was him. They were curious. That’s the extent of what I know.”
A neighbor reported to KJRH that the Walker home was in a dreadful condition, lacking running water for about two or three years, despite housing six children and multiple pets. The neighbor also mentioned having contacted local law enforcement several times concerning the children’s welfare, expressing disbelief at the family’s claim of being unaware of the 11-year-old’s pregnancy.
“This is getting to me,” she told the station. “They robbed her of her childhood.”
The victim’s grandmother pushed back on the neighbor’s claims about the state of the family’s home.
“We have animals, and so sometimes there’s trash on the floor because the dogs get into the trash,” she said. “It gets cleaned up. Right now, it’s probably a mess because the animals are in there. We try to let them out, but they try to keep it clean.”
Muskogee County Assistant District Attorney Janet Hutson spoke to Tulsa CBS affiliate KOTV about the case, calling it heartbreaking. The prosecutor also implied that she did not believe the family’s claim that they were unaware of the pregnancy, emphasizing that while the victim was “rather petite,” her baby was a “normal-sized infant.”
“This child is traumatized,” Hutson told the station. “She’s been through a horrific ordeal. I mean, not only has somebody gotten her pregnant, but she gave birth at home without medical assistance, and this will be her life for the rest of her life.”
The prosecutor noted that a doctor or school personnel would have typically reported the child’s condition to authorities, but said the parents had intentionally kept the 11-year-old out of school and had not taken her to see a doctor in over a year.
Hutson said she expects additional charges to be filed against the parents, but prosecutors are waiting on the results of a DNA paternity test, which should come back within about two weeks, before making any final decisions on that front.
The defendants are being held in the Muskogee County Jail on bond of $100,000. It was not immediately clear when they would appear in court next.
