MUSKOGEE COUNTY, Okla. (TCN) — A 34-year-old woman has been sentenced to seven life terms in prison for child neglect and enabling child abuse in connection with her 11-year-old daughter’s pregnancy.
The investigation into Cherie Walker and her husband Dustin Walker began in August 2025 after an 11-year-old girl gave birth at home. She had reportedly not received any prenatal care and did not have medical assistance during her birth.
DNA testing found that the baby’s father was the girl’s stepfather, Dustin Walker. Five other children were found living in the home in conditions that law enforcement described as “deplorable,” and prosecutors said Cherie Walker was aware her husband was abusing her daughter but did nothing to stop it.
Dustin Walker was sentenced to life in prison in June after pleading guilty to child sexual abuse and neglect charges.
At the time of Dustin Walker’s sentencing, District Attorney Janet Hutson said, “It’s very emotional to realize that a child at the age of 10 and 11 was having sex with their stepfather, that she became pregnant, and no one took her to the doctor and she gave birth at home,” KJRH reported.
She continued, “When you complicate that with the severe deplorable uninhabitable conditions of that home, to know that’s where she gave birth, where those children lived, without even the ability to get a drink of water in the middle of the night. It affected everyone in law enforcement. It affected the investigators, it affected everyone who touched this case. It certainly affected me.”
According to KJRH, the child’s grandmother Michelle Justus was also charged with six counts of child neglect in connection with the case. She claimed she was unaware of the child’s pregnancy and waived her right to a jury trial in August.
KOKH reports Cherie Walker was found guilty of one felony count of enabling child sexual abuse and six counts of child neglect, and was sentenced on Oct. 30 to seven life sentences that will run consecutively.
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