A woman in Oklahoma, United States, has been sentenced to seven consecutive life sentences after failing to protect her 11-year-old daughter from sexual abuse and then allowing the child to give birth at home without medical assistance after she became pregnant with her husband’s child.
Cherie Walker was sentenced to seven consecutive life sentences by a Muskogee County judge on Friday, October 30, 2026, per Oklahoma City Fox affiliate, KOKL and public Muskogee County court records reviewed by PEOPLE.
Walker, 34, was charged with one count of child sexual abuse and six counts of child neglect in August 2025 after authorities learned that her 11-year-old daughter had given birth to a baby inside the family’s home without prenatal care or medical assistance on August 16, 2025, according to reports from local outlets.
In a statement to KOTV at the time, Muskogee County Assistant District Attorney Janet Hutson said that both Walker and her husband, Dustin Walker, claimed that they did not know the child was pregnant when she gave birth.
“This child is traumatized,” Hutson told KOTV at the time. “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.”
In another statement to KJRH, the district attorney’s office said that DNA testing confirmed that Walker’s husband — the child’s stepfather — was the baby’s father.
The Muskogee County district attorney’s office did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment.
Prosecutors later argued that Walker knew her husband was sexually abusing her daughter but did nothing to stop it. She was convicted on all seven felony counts on July 17, 2026, according to public Muskogee County court records reviewed by PEOPLE.
The child’s stepfather pleaded guilty to felony child sexual abuse and neglect charges in March.
He was later sentenced to life in prison, per the outlet
The child’s grandmother, Michelle Justus, was also charged in relation to the case, as prosecutors argued that she knew sexual abuse was happening within the household and did nothing to stop it.
