An Oklahoma mother and stepfather have been charged with child neglect after their 11-year-old daughter gave birth over the weekend.
Muskogee County Assistant District Attorney Janet Hutson said that Dustin and Cherie Walker were being held on $100,000 bonds each and that she anticipates “filing additional charges and amending that information shortly,” KJRH reported.
Hutson said officials are awaiting results of a paternity test to determine the father of the newborn. She said her office learned about the case when the girl was taken to the hospital after giving birth.
“I was horror-stricken to find out it’s an 11-year-old little girl who’s given birth,” said Hutson. “And that she had no medical care, and she had no one to be with her.”
The 11-year-old and five other children have been removed from the home, she said.
The 11-year-old girl’s grandmother, who identified herself only as Michelle,” told KJRH that the family was unaware the little girl was pregnant.
“They’ve made my daughter and my son-in-law a monster.They are not,” she said. “They love those children. They love them.”
Michelle said the house was in bad condition because of pets. And she said her daughter has claimed that the father of the 11-year-old’s baby is a a 12-year-old boy.
“She keeps telling everybody that it was him,” she said. “They got curious. That’s all I know.”
Hutson told KOTV she was skeptical of claims — including from the couple — that they were unaware of the child’s pregnancy. The girl was “rather petite,” she said, and the baby was a normal-sized infant.
“This child is traumatized. 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.” Hutson said.
Hutson said no doctors or school officials had seen the child in some time and so could not report the pregnancy.
“The child had been out of school for a period of time, and it is my understanding that children may have been homeschooled,” Hutson said.
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[Featured image: Dustin and Cherie Walker/Muskogee County Jail]
