A woman who sexually abused a male relative of her husband, who is also facing child sex abuse charges, was sentenced Tuesday to a seven-year term of probation in Miller County.
Sarah Walker sexually assaulted the boy in 2008, when he was 10, and again in 2013, according to a probable cause affidavit used to create the following account.
Sarah Walker's victim is a relative of her husband, Michael Walker. Michael Walker allegedly began sexually abusing the boy when he was 5. Michael Walker is facing a charge of rape involving the boy that allegedly occurred in 2005 and a charge of sexual indecency with a child, which allegedly occurred in 2004.
The boy told a forensic interviewer at the Children's Advocacy Center in Texarkana that Michael Walker and several friends were watching pornography in a locked bedroom when he knocked on the door and was allowed to enter. When he turned to leave, Walker grabbed him and forced him to perform sexual acts on him and his friends. Michael Walker allegedly sodomized the boy as well.
Michael Walker allegedly preyed on two other children, one of whom was 3 when she made an outcry of abuse to a state family services caseworker in November 2015 that led to the discovery of the other alleged victims. The girl allegedly told investigators Walker violated her with a stick later identified as a sex toy that can be strapped to the body at the waist.
A distant female relative of Walker's, who allegedly told family members years ago that she was being sexually abused, told investigators she was likely 9 years old when Walker first raped her and 15 when the abuse ceased because of a lack of access. The girl, now 19, said she came to believe, "This must be the way life is," when Walker allegedly repeatedly assaulted her. The teen told investigators Walker duct taped her hands and mouth during one assault and threatened to harm her father if she told. The teen reportedly said she has considered suicide because of the trauma.
Relatives of Michael Walker's reported that he threatened to "kill them all," when the alleged abuse surfaced. Michael Walker is facing five felony child abuse charges. Three counts of rape are punishable by 25 to 40 years or life. A single count of sexual indecency with a child is punishable by up to six years in prison and a fine up to $10,000 and a second degree sexual assault is punishable by five to 10 years in prison and a fine up to $15,000.
If sentenced to the maximum on each charge and ordered to serve the terms consecutively, Walker faces the possibility of three life sentences plus 16 years in an Arkansas prison.
His bail is set at $500,000. Walker is currently being held in the Miller County jail. Jones set the case for jury selection in June.