Joe Walker of Mammoth Lakes
In the Santa Barbara child sex case that involved two Mammoth men, Dr. Andrew Bourne overshadowed co-defendant Joe Walker in news reports. With Bourne’s death, Walker stands alone against charges that he contacted a teen girl for sex and committed lewd acts with her. Walker was scheduled to head back to court Friday.
According to Santa Barbara County District Attorney Joyce Dudley, her office is awaiting Dr. Bourne’s death certificate for official termination of his case. When asked if additional charges would be filed against Walker, DA Dudley said that is “still under consideration.” Walker is scheduled to appear in Santa Barbara County Superior Court on Friday, Feb. 10, to set the date for his preliminary hearing.
News accounts have quoted Santa Barbara Deputy District Attorney Mary Barron as saying that Walker had met the 14-year-old victim at her school on one occasion. Barron was also quoted as saying that Walker told a Santa Barbara detective that once the teenager turned 18, “he would want to continue a relationship with her.”
Walker’s attorney, Sam Eaton had told the court that a lot of the prosecutions claims are “innuendo rather than real fact.” Walker and Bourne were arrested after detectives said they seized over 1,000 emails from the men to the girl. Walker faces one count of committing a lewd act on a child and six counts of contacting a child with intent to commit a sexual crime.
Deputy DA Barron has also been quoted as saying that over the course of the men’s two-year relationship with the girl, now 15, there were “numerous clandestine meetings” in Santa Barbara and Mammoth Lakes to which the girl traveled more than 100 times, according to Barron.
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I think all good points made pointing to the fact this young girl had lousy parents for not better monitoring her e-mails,field trips, “missionary work”and numerous Mammoth Lakes”vacations” with these two older men…but that should not be a mitigating factor into what these guys(allegedly) did with her.And if Walker’s defense lawyer tries to do that in the trial,if it ever goes to trial,it’s gonna make both his lawyer and the defendant look sleazy,using that as a semi-defense.Lots of 14 year olds go on missionary work,organizational field trips,etc. with adults without (allegedly) having sex with them……now the (alleged) 1,000+ e-mails,and the (alleged) hot-tubbing,now that is a different story.If it comes out they were hot-tubbing,thats gonna put Mr. Walker in hot water.
It seems to me that people have completely ignored the mother’s (J.D.) role in this. She allowed her daughter to go to on the November missionary Mexico trip with these two men, Owen’s River rafting, hot tubbing, multiple postings on Facebook, etc. Why isn’t the media addressing her failure as a mother? I find it extremely hard to believe she did not know what was happening.
Just the mother? Isn’t there a father too? Or do you only think mother’s have parenting responsibilities?
Wow. Hitting new lows.
Way to represent and stain the inner circle!
BOOOOOOOOOOO!!!
Consider the fact that kids are tried and convicted as adults in murder and other cases regularly.
I know that adults must be responsible, at best, not to allow situations like the accused to occur but somehow I cannot get this consideration out of my head.
Wow, Good point ???, Children are supposed to know its wrong to commit criminal acts, but this knowledge and understanding don’t extend to sexuality? How about that it’s wrong to have an affair with a married person?
A 14 or 15 year old cannot drive herself to Mammoth over 100 times. So, who was with her? How did she get here? Where were her parents when she was running around with these men? If, in fact, she was. And, what parent NEVER monitors their child’s email account? I’m sorry but at 14 complete privacy should never have been assumed and yet this girl didn’t seem to be worried about that. If she had been worried, the emails would have been deleted. Was she allowed to see the men and then something changed? Too many questions to which we may never know the real answer .
Dear Friar Tuck,
I was referring to your comment about intelligent people, not to the age of the participants:
“Then again most intelligent people wouldn’t allow themselves to be in this predicament ”
Intelligent people get into “predicaments” just a not so intelligent people. I am going to sign off of this topic as there is no sense going round and round. I feel very strongly about the right of the presumption of innocence… end of story.
Key word “this” end of story for me too Bishop Local.
just curious as to who the girls family is, and their invovement in this case, why would they allow thier daughter travel to mammoth with two men 100 plus times? as i metioned on here beofre, there are a lot more questions than answears, a tragedy turned more tragic with Dr. Bourne’s death, and every time Joe Walker goes to court, the case gets prolonged….MAy God bring some closure soon.
So just because you make contributions to the community you should be excused from any inappropriate actions. We will just have to wait for what is presented in court and understand the facts.
I guess in Dr Bourne’s case we will never know what “actually” happened. No one will except the 14 year old girl & even then due to her age it could be distorted.
Well, It seems that opinions are being expressed openly, albeit somewhat cynically. l am glad that many are examining their personal feelings and thoughts about victimization issues.
I ask that some remember that this is about the victim and the accused. The memorial for Dr. Bourne was for those who cared about him and has hopefully given some closure to those people. No one was forced to attend the memorial and no one seems to have glorified his actions.
I hope that this discussion continues and evolves to the broader issues of victimization and the need for advocacy and prevention of abuse.
Oh come on now Friar Tuck, you know better than that! History is chock full of intelligent people that got themselves in hot water. Right off the bat I am thinking President Bill Clinton. How about John F. Kennedy and Marilyn Monroe? Want more examples? Yes you are cynical. What what about this- what about the the presumption of innocence?
“The presumption of innocence, sometimes referred to by the Latin expression Ei incumbit probatio qui dicit, non qui negat, is the principle that one is considered innocent until proven guilty. Application of this principle is a legal right of the accused in a criminal trial, recognised in many nations. The burden of proof is thus on the prosecution, which has to collect and present enough compelling evidence to convince the trier of fact, who is restrained and ordered by law to consider only actual evidence and testimony that is legally admissible, and in most cases lawfully obtained, that the accused is guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. If reasonable doubt remains, the accused is to be acquitted”
Dr. Bourne was tried in the media and in the court of public opinion over and over again. The evidence against him was never presented in court and yet ya’ll still talk about his guilt.
It is truly unbelievable! I think that this goes to show that, an enlightened society we are not. It is pretty reminiscent of the New England witch trials.
Sex between consenting “ADULTS” is not illegal Bishop local, key words here are consenting adults. Can you see the difference between this case and the examples you cited?President Bill Clinton was found to have had a legal sex act with a consenting adult female. President John F. Kennedy never faced an inquiry of his alleged affairs, so I presume he too is innocent based on your above example. Why would you even bring up J.F.K. or Marilyn Monroe? “Ei incumbit probatio qui dicit”? Should they not be presumed innocent like the deceased doctor? Neither were ever tried in a court of law.
I admit I may be a bit cynical, but a hypocrite I’m not.
Friar Tuck,
It may not be illegal but it is certainly considered inappropriate among most people. Sexual/romantic relationships between Professors and students, supervisors and subordinates (Bill Clinton), any time there is a power and control issue that comes into play. If I am 18 and you are 50 there may be nothing illegal, but the relationship may be ethically and morally wrong, or not. If I am your boss and you are my subordinate it may not be illegal, but I bet its against personnel rules in most organizations.
Those of you who think that an arbitrary age limit on legal sex makes it OK to take advantage as Billy Clinton and John Kennedy did have an ethics problem. Just because something is “legal” does not necessarily make it right.
Expecting morals / ethics in every consenting adult romantic relationships is never going to happen.
Powerful men and women are desirable and targeted by many adults regardless of their age, sex or marital status. Your opinion on morals and ethics by only naming only liberal men speaks volumes of your biased agenda.
Alleged extra marital affairs by consenting adults is not the same as adults accused of targeting children by the “legal” definition which is the point of this debate.
Portraying a consenting adult actions to those of an immature child as both victims based on a power and control defense is both naive and ignorant . There are no victims in your examples, just volunteers agreeing to a relationship between adults, subject to moral and ethical “opinions” but no legal action. Employment sanctions are always possible with or without cause depending on the circumstances. It’s not the same as being arrested for suspicion of a crime or going to jail for a criminal conviction.
One only read the fable of Adam and Eve. You’ll notice the moral and ethics problem has been around for a very long time. Using morals and ethics as a weapon for a political ideology is a consistent human behavior, but it isn’t about right or wrong. It’s about portraying a political superiority complex that exist only between a foolish person’s ears and nothing more.
No gender, political party, faith or lack thereof has the moral or ethical high ground.
I agree with Terribone,but I would even take this one step further.
Only an unethical and morally bankrupt person would attempt to politicize this issue!
Mr. Tuck,
I did not bring JFK or Mr. Clinton into this discussion, someone else did. To say that I have any kind of political agenda because I continued on a subject that was being discussed using the same examples, is pretty silly at best, at worst, you are politicizing this discussion, obviously because you have a political agenda, and highly liberal at that.
This thread started out being about illegal sexual behavior, where’s the politics in that?
I brought up ethics and morals, because whether you like it or not, that is what a lot of our laws are based on.
JFK and Bill Clinton are simply highly visible examples of moral bankruptcy when it comes to sex. (Note I said WHEN IT COMES TO SEX) So are Koby Bryant and Roman Polanski, how’s that? Satisfy your uncontrollable urge to politicize?
Note that in our society, cheating on your spouse is frowned upon, and although not illegal, is grounds for divorce. In other societies, a cheating spouse (usually only females) may be stoned to death.
Many of these same cultures do not have laws against having sex with underage people, its the way they live.
Additionally, what is law if not politics? Who makes the laws? God? Religous leaders? The people? NO, in our society, IT IS POLITICIANS.
Way to politicize this issue, Bishop Local. And your analogies suck, at best.
Bishop Local…..What you say is true about the burden of proof is on the prosecution when trying a case.And if reasonable doubt remains,the accused is to be acquitted.And if Dr. Bourne had gone to trial,just maybe he would have been acquitted of the charges brought against him…BUT that,my friend we will never know…because he chose to end his own life instead of fighting the charges.Like so many posters have said on these sites at the Sierra Wave,if one gets charged with something that he is innocent of,what most people would do is want to take it to trial,and clear their name….and show your family,friends,co-workers,and in Dr.Bournes case,his patients that you are indeed innocent.What the media,or court of public opinion felt would take a back seat during the whole process….for most people.
Wow, you guys, the word cynical comes to mind. I don’t know Joe Walker as I did not know Dr. Bourne. but I doubt that he has quite the same community contributions that Dr. Bourne had. I think that you are having difficulties seeing the forest through the trees. If you don’t get by now why the memorial service for Dr. Bourne, you never will- I am sorry to say. Also, Joe Walker is charged with actually engaging in sex with the teenager. Dr. Bourne did not. Be cynical if you wish but I would ask that you be mindful of the facts.
Call me cynical, but most intelligent people wouldn’t execute themselves over a few inappropriate e-mails. Then again most intelligent people wouldn’t allow themselves to be in this predicament “The proof of the pudding is in the eating.” I know I’m cynical.
The Los Angeles Times reported that “Bourne admitted to a sexual encounter”.
Here’s what was published in the LA Times: “Bourne admitted to an investigator that he had sexual contact with the girl, according to prosecutors.”
BK
Your day in court is coming.
Lets see how strong you can stand.
Try not to whimp out.
Just remember, the past is close behind.
he’s gonna be getting some star-worship up there in Mammoth too… Only and few are that lame… do not bunch all of us Mammoth into that group.
The girl is 16 at present, not 15.
Wow, that makes a big difference….
Is MMSA going to throw a party for the guy in Bishop accused of the same crimes as Dr. Bourne?
Sick!!!!!!
Something tells me when this guy goes to trial,or maybe even before the trial takes place,he’s gonna be getting some star-worship up there in Mammoth too….After all,he is…or was a local….a business owner and a popular person on the ski slopes.Something also tells me it will be a LONG time before this case even sees a courtroom….His high priced lawyer will probably keep continuing the trial untill the twelve of never…kinda like the surfer that beat up the girls a few years back….Has that guy ever been to trial yet on those assault charges yet ?
It appears that a jury of at least 57, without seeing evidence, has found the accused guilty. Why don’t you keep your unsupported opinions to yourself until a fair trial is held? You are not only unfairly judging an individual you are judging the community and the judicial system. Shame on you!
Shame on you Harry! Why don’t you keep your opinions to yourself! But since you didn’t, here is my opinion. I think the community should not have had a memorial for Bourne until the case is done and all of the evidence is shown.
FYI. As soon as the Santa Barbara DA receives Dr. Bourne’s death certificate, the case is terminated.
BK
Re: josh
Should his friends and family not get the opportunity to remember his life?
Should his children feel shamed, his wife. They know nothing of the case yet nor any involvement. Everyone should have a chance to celebrate the man they knew outside of this incident.
I AGREE!
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