How Could You? Hall of Shame-Steven Walker UPDATED

This will be an archive of heinous actions by those involved in child welfare, foster care and adoption. We forewarn you that these are deeply disturbing stories that may involve sex abuse, murder, kidnapping and other horrendous actions.

From Gallupville, New York, Kinship Foster Parent Steven Walker, 34, “faces assault charges after he used pliers to pull three of his 8-year-old foster daughter’s permanent teeth, state police said.”

“Steven Walker, 34, of Gallupville was arrested after the girl complained of mouth pain at school and was subsequently examined by a dentist, troopers said. The dentist called child protective services.

The foster child, who’s described as mentally disabled, was removed from Walker’s home.

Walker was charged Thursday with felony assault and endangering the welfare of a child. He was arraigned in Richmondville Town Court and sent to the county jail on $10,000 bail. He’s due in Wright Town Court on Monday.

Police gave no motive for the incident.

It could not be determined Walker has a lawyer.”

NY man charged with assault after using pliers to pull 3 teeth of foster daughter, police say[Syracuse 11/25/13 by Associated Press]

“Walker was arrested on November 21, 2013 for assaulting an eight year old developmentally disabled child in his care by extracting three permanent teeth with a pair of pliers.

The indictment was handed up to Schoharie County Court charging Walker with two counts of Assault in the second degree and two counts of Endangering the welfare of a child.

His arraignment in Schoharie County Court is pending.

As a result of numerous telephone calls from concerned citizens and local media outlets, a custodian account has been established for the eight year old child- victim of this assault.

Paul Brady, Commissioner of the Schoharie County Social Services has established an account at the NBT Bank Branch located at 271 Main Street, Schoharie, NY 12157.

Persons interested in donating to this cause may do so at any NBT branch by sending in a check or money order made payable to “Paul Brady Custodian”.

All proceeds will directly benefit the child.”

Schoharie County indictment of Stephen Walker[New York State Police 12/11/13]

“Steven Walker, 34, was in Schohaire County Court for a pre-trial hearing. Wwalker [sic]was arrested last November for endangering the welfare of a child after police say he used some kind of pliers to pull the girl’s teeth. The girl was a foster child and authorities say she is mentally handicapped. ”

Man accuses of puling foster child teeth appears in court[CBS Albany 4/9/14]

REFORM Puzzle Piece

 

UPDATE:“A Schoharie County man accused of pulling out the permanent teeth of a developmentally disabled girl in his care has pleaded guilty and will serve four years in state prison.

 

Steven D. Walker, 35, of Gallupville pleaded guilty in Schoharie County Court Friday to one count of second-degree assault, and is expected to be sentenced to four years in prison Jan. 7, said Walker’s attorney Ryan McAllister.

 

Walker made an Alford plea, which allows him to plead guilty while still insisting on his innocence. McAllister said Walker has told him since his November arrest that he has no knowledge of what happened to the 8-year-old girl, who had three permanent front teeth forcibly removed with pliers. But McAllister said the evidence the district attorney’s office had against Walker was “substantial,” so his client agreed to take a plea deal. Walker had faced two counts of assault and two counts of endangering the welfare of a child, which would have put him in prison for up to 14 years if convicted on all charges.

 

The case drew widespread attention and sympathy for the girl, with an account established at NBT Bank for her by the Schoharie County Department of Social Servicesunder the department commissioner’s name, “Paul Brady, custodian.”

The Times Union previously reported that Walker became the girl’s legal guardian after her caregiver, her grandmother and Walker’s wife’s aunt, died. The assault was discovered after the girl complained of mouth pain at school and a relative took her to a dentist.

The house on Route 443 where the girl lived in with Walker was also in horrible condition, aState Police investigator said. Walker and his wife at the time were caring for their own children in the home as well.

Walker has been out on bail since his arrest, and will continue to be until sentencing.

Meanwhile, the girl has an order of protection against Walker that will likely last until her 18th birthday. After Walker’s arrest, she was immediately removed from the home and placed in foster care.”

 

Schoharie County man pleads guilty to charge of forcibly pulling girl’s teeth[TIMES-UNION 6/15/14 by Lauren Stanforth]

Update 2:“Steven D. Walker, the man who pleaded guilty to pulling three teeth from a developmentally disabled 8-year-old in 2013, was sentenced Wednesday to four years in prison, the maximum sentence for the crime.

The 35-year-old Gallupville man pleaded guilty to second-degree assault, a class D felony, in June after being arrested Nov. 21, 2013. Police said he pulled three mature teeth from the young girl’s mouth with pliers while she was in his care.

Schoharie County District Attorney James Sackett said he thought justice had been served, though he would have liked a longer sentence.

“It’s horrible,” he said of the crime. “It’s absolutely horrible. It couldn’t be any worse.”

The case was opened in fall 2013 after the girl complained of mouth pain at school. She was examined by her regular dentist, who noticed three of her permanent teeth had been forcibly removed. The police began an investigation, and Walker was arrested not long after.

In court before sentencing, Walker asked for leniency, claiming his absence would be hard on his wife and three children. He also expressed regret for pleading guilty last summer. At the time, he entered an Alford Plea, which allows a person to plead guilty without admitting to the crime.

“At the time, I thought I was protecting my family,” Walker said in court Wednesday, “and it was the biggest mistake of my life.”

Walker’s attorney, Ryan McAllister, said in court that Walker “has consistently maintained that he does not know what happened to the victim” and that Walker had willingly entered into parenting and mental health counseling over the past year.

McAllister declined to comment on the sentence.

Sackett called Walker’s initial confession of guilt “half-hearted” and said Walker had suggested at the time he was covering for another individual. Nevertheless, Sackett said he felt Walker was guilty and deserving of the sentence.

“I do believe that he was the perpetrator,” said Sackett. “Whether he was the sole perpetrator, I’m not sure.”

He said the evidence against Walker was mostly circumstantial, like the fact that Walker’s size and strength would have made him capable of pulling the girl’s teeth — an act Sackett called “basically torture.”

Sackett said the girl, Walker’s niece, had been put in Walker’s custody because her parents, also developmentally disabled, could not care for her. According to Sackett, Walker’s three children have also been removed from the home since his arrest.

Sackett said investigators had hoped more evidence would come forward after the guilty plea, but were left with “as many questions as there are answers,” including why Walker forcibly removed the girl’s teeth.

“We were never able to determine why the teeth had been pulled,” he said. “Frankly speaking, this is one of the most exasperating cases I’ve had in my 18 years as a district attorney.”

The girl, now 9, has minimal verbal skills, which Sackett said made the investigation particularly challenging — “truly a victim who could not defend herself,” he said.

In addition to four years in prison, Walker was sentenced to three years of post-sentence supervision and an eight-year order of protection was issued on behalf of the girl and her family.

The girl was placed in foster care with a family she knew immediately after the crime, and Sackett said she has had dental attention since, but reconstructive surgery will have to wait until the rest of her teeth mature.”

Gallupville man gets 4 years for pulling disabled girl’s teeth with pliers [The Daily Gazette 1/15/15 by Kyle Adams]