Cherie Walker will spend the rest of her life behind bars for letting her husband impregnate her 11-year-old daughter, whom they forced to give birth without medical care.
  • Nollij@sopuli.xyzEnglish
    182·
    14 days ago

    Jesus, that’s a bad headline. She wasn’t sentenced for the home birth; she was sentenced for her part and cover-up of her husband raping and impregnating their daughter. The lack of proper medical care is just part of the cover-up.

  • leadore@lemmy.world
    93·
    14 days ago

    What’s even weirder is that they gave the mother 7 consecutive life sentences, but the father who actually impregnated the child only got 1 life sentence + 42 years.

      • neukenindekeuken@sh.itjust.works
        14·
        14 days ago

        They do it that way so even with good behavior or some appeals for a commuted sentence, still ends up being more years than they’ll live by a mile.

    • kryptonianCodeMonkey@lemmy.world
      10·
      14 days ago

      It also said that he was charged with the same 6 counts of child neglect though. So either the article was unclear on his actual sentence also being multiple consecutive life sentences or the charges of neglect didn’t all stick for some reason.

      I don’t have any specifics but it could be that the father was not in a position to actually be responsible for her care at some point. Maybe the mother kicked him out or something. I’m just speculating, though. No idea really.

      • Bubbaonthebeach@lemmy.caEnglish
        3·
        13 days ago

        It’s simple. In the USA, and many other counties, rape of any sort by a man isn’t as bad as anything a woman/mother might do wrong. I didn’t read the article however I wouldn’t be surprised to find out that the husband was also beating, raping or otherwise abusing his wife.

        • ayyy@sh.itjust.works
          7·
          13 days ago

          You are clearly quite ignorant of the actual statistics when it comes to gender disparities in sentencing for the same crimes.

      • kryptonianCodeMonkey@lemmy.world
        10·
        13 days ago

        It’s mostly what it sounds like. Prison until you die. But, unless given a life sentence without the possibility of parole, once you’ve served a minimum number of years (and that number varies on the crime, state/federal law and judge’s applied minimums) you can become eligible for parole. What that means is a parole board can determine later that you have sufficiently served time for your crimes, that you are remorseful for them, and that you no longer pose a danger to anyone, and release you from prison before your death.

        When it comes to sentences with specific years attached, like this guy’s 42 year sentence, it is a bit different. They can also end early with a parole decision, but there is a minimum time served for each sentence before you are eligible for parole. That minimum scales with the full sentence. It is, I think, usually 1/3rd of the full sentence, unless the judge sets a higher minimum.

        Also you can be given multiple years long sentences, one per guilty verdict, but depending on the judge’s discretion or if those crimes are statuarily required to be served consecutively (i.e. one after the other), sometimes those sentences are to be served concurrently (i.e. at the same time). What that means is, if you get sentenced to two 1 year sentences and a 3 year sentence to be served concurrently, you’re really only serving 3 years. But if you have to serve them consecutively, you’ll be serving all 5 years in total. And your parole potential starts, thus, later.

        So it’s kind of complicated. Sometimes you see someone getting a life sentence and they’re released in 20 years. Sometimes you see someone get a dozen sentences but they’re all served concurrently and they’re out in a few years too. Sometimes someone gets multiple sentences to be served consecutively and ends up with like 200 years in prison and are essentially guaranteed to die in prison before they are eligible for parole, despite none of their crimes carrying a life sentence potential.

        Also this dude’s 42 years and life sentence are consecutive, so he must serve the minimum of both before possibility of parole. But that is probably about 35-40 years from now at minimum. I’m unclear if the mother’s 7 life sentences are consecutive or concurrent, but since they didn’t say, probably concurrent.

        • redballooon@lemmy.world
          6·
          13 days ago

          Thanks for all that explanation. It ended up in me being even more confused what the point of 7 concurrent life sentences is.

          • kryptonianCodeMonkey@lemmy.world
            2·
            13 days ago

            Sentences are concurrent by default unless the specific law they are convicted of breaking requires their sentence to be served consecutively or the judge specifically rules that they are to be consecutive. I am not really sure on the history of why that is though.

    • Blooper@lemmy.world
      84·
      14 days ago

      Really? Come on. That’s quite a stretch you’re making here - really grasping at straws to assume they might have voted for anyone other than Trump. The nerve.

      • Obviouslywrong@lemmy.world
        9·
        14 days ago

        No it can be just non political where the republican is too moderate so they don’t vote or only vote for a random third party. There are plenty of hard right people that don’t vote especially in deep red or non competitive areas.

  • Corvidae@lemmy.world
    53·
    14 days ago

    Such a difference between this and Epstein, while the subject of sexual abuse of minors is roughly the same. I guess the lesson is, if you’re gonna rape and pillage, first be filthy rich.

  • Photon1c@lemmy.worldBanned
    32·
    14 days ago

    This entire article and some clarifications in the comments make me feel sick. This entire story is fucked up and i wish I hadn’t read it. Poor child is traumatised for life

    • anon_8675309@lemmy.world
      16·
      14 days ago

      Sadder still, society will expect her get over it and carry on. Society doesn’t understand that there’s no “normal” for her any more.

      • Axeman666@sh.itjust.works
        3·
        13 days ago

        Hopefully she can get a lot of help and therapy while she’s still young. Once you’re an adult no one gives a fuck what you’ve been through or what you’re going through.

        The bills won’t pay themselves. Food won’t magically show up just because you’re too mentally or emotionally fucked up to function like a normal adult.

    • sem@lemmy.blahaj.zone
      15·
      14 days ago

      Thank you for this warning.

      Someone once wrote a comment on the internet which i read, which said something like, " when you have a choice to look at something traumatic or not, you don’t have to look. "

  • Dozzi92@lemmy.world
    26·
    13 days ago

    I hear people say Oklahoma is the most free state in the union, and yet they won’t let you rape your own child and force her to give birth? That’s not the America my ancestors had nothing to do with building.

  • Treczoks@lemmy.world
    23·
    14 days ago

    Just another reason to make home “schooling” illegal. It enables abuse on so many levels.