RSSEx-Marine recruiter avoids prison in plea deal
Craig Walker
An Iraq war veteran tabbed by the U.S. Marine Corps to be a recruiter in Grand Junction, 26-year-old Craig Walker told a judge he was “riding high,” earning $50,000 annually through this past spring.
On Wednesday, Walker was ordered to register as a sex offender.
“I really loved doing what I was doing,” said Walker, a Nebraska native, told District Judge Valerie Robison during a sentencing hearing.
Robison Wednesday accepted a plea agreement in which Walker was sentenced to a 4-year deferred judgment, which was after he pleaded guilty to a felony count of sexual exploitation. The deferred judgment means the felony will be erased if Walker stays clear of trouble over the next four years, in addition to completing 200 hours of community service and sex-offender specific treatment.
Walker, a local Marine recruiter since 2007, was arrested in May after authorities executed a search warrant and found hundreds of pornographic files on his computer, including at least eight videos with child porn. One of the videos showed girls, estimated at ages 6 to 7, engaged in sexual acts, Deputy District Attorney Jeremy Savage said.
Walker was under scrutiny after what Savage described as an online sting involving a Grand Junction police detective and federal agents, who were using a computer program which allowed them to track the movement of known child-porn computer files. After tracking several files to a computer in Grand Junction, authorities served a subpoena on a local Internet service provider and learned the files were viewed at an address associated with Walker. Authorities showed up at Walker’s home in March with a search warrant to seize the computer and he turned himself in May 24 after an arrest warrant had issued.
Walker was discharged “less than honorably” from the Marine Corps following his arrest, stripping him of all military benefits, including retirement, attorney Ed Nugent said.
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