Dustin Joel Walker, who was accused of impregnating his 11-year-old stepdaughter, has a court date scheduled to withdraw his guilty plea after he was sentenced to life in prison, Us can exclusively confirm.
Walker’s attorney, Ben Hilfiger, filed an application to withdraw the guilty plea on July 6, according to Muskogee county court records viewed by Us. The filing was made just one week after Walker, 35, was sentenced to life in prison for the sexual abuse conviction and 42 years in prison for the child neglect convictions. He must serve the 42 year sentence first before his life sentence begins.
An upcoming court date regarding the filing has been scheduled to take place on Tuesday, July 28.
Hilfiger did not immediately respond to Us’ request for comment regarding the filing and case.
An investigation into Walker and his wife, Cherie Dawn Walker, began in 2025 when authorities learned that Cherie’s 11-year-old daughter had given birth to a full-term infant at home. The girl did not receive any prenatal or medical care during her pregnancy and labor.
Both Dustin and Cherie, 34, were arrested in August 2025, and Dustin entered a blind guilty plea in March after Assistant District Attorney Janet Hutson confirmed that DNA testing revealed there was a 99 percent chance that he was the father of his stepdaughter’s baby.
Dustin pleaded guilty to felony sexual abuse of a child under 12 and six felony counts of child neglect.
“Ultimately, it will be, we only did a blind plea today,” Hutson said after Walker entered the plea, according to News 2 Oklahoma. “A pre-sentence investigation was ordered.”
Hilfiger also told the outlet that it was not common for his clients to enter blind pleas.
“Normally we will have a plea agreement when we go to plea our clients, but in this case I didn’t feel like there was one that we could get that would be useful or helpful in any way,” he said.
Dustin was sentenced in June and was ordered to serve life in prison. Additionally, he had to register as a sex offender and has been forbidden from contacting the victims.
Dustin was sentenced less than one month before Cherie was found guilty on one count of enabling child sexual abuse and six counts of child neglect on July 17. She has not yet been formally sentenced, but Muskogee County jurors recommended she receive a life sentence on each of the seven convictions.
The victim’s grandmother Michelle Justus was also arrested on one count of child neglect. She is scheduled to go to trial on Thursday, July 23, and it’s not currently clear if she has entered a plea.
If you or someone you know is experiencing child abuse, call or text Child Help Hotline at 1-800-422-4453.
