Eudora man sentenced to life in prison
Lawrence - 27-year-old Joshua Walker will stay behind bars, after a Douglas County judge sentenced him to life in prison. In June, Walker was convicted of raping his five-year-old daughter. Prosecutors say the child told her stepmother that walker sexually abused her, but it wasn’t reported to authorities until the second time the child complained.
After testimonies, a jury determined Walker committed the crimes. On Friday, his attorney stood in front of a judge, telling him that his client had remorse. That’s when Walker took the stand. He gave a lengthy speech to the judge, hoping for a reduced sentence, begging him to have mercy. “I would give anything just for five minutes with my children, and my wife to hold them to tell them I love them to apologize for the hurt that I have caused them and for not being there when I should have,” Walker said.
While the judge says he considered Walker’s speech before sentencing, it didn’t help his case. Walker will serve a life sentence with a chance for parole in 25 years. If released, he’ll be a registered sex offender for the rest of his life. Walker didn’t make any eye contact with his teary-eyed family members on his our out of the courtroom. He exchanged works with his defense attorney and was then escorted back to jail.