Golden – Former Wheat Ridge teacher Marshall Adam Walker was found guilty Wednesday of 35 counts of coercing three boys to pose nude.
Jefferson County District Judge Jane Tidball decided Walker, 33, was guilty of 30 counts of sexual exploitation of a child, two counts of enticement of a child and three counts of unlawful sexual contact.
Testimony in the two-day trial revealed Walker befriended the boys, who were 13, 14 and 15 years old, while he taught at Bell and Everitt middle schools from 1997 to 2006.
Walker would take the boys hunting, shooting and out to eat. He would offer them items such as a gun, pornographic material, a duck call and, in one instance, changing a failing test grade if they would remove clothing so he could take photos and videos.
The Denver Post does not ordinarily publish the names of sex-crime victims, but one of the boys, now 17, consented to having his name made public.
“Way relieved,” Danny Buschkoetter said of how he felt when Tidball found Walker guilty. “The coolest part was seeing him taken away in handcuffs.”
Tidball raised Walker’s bail from $10,000 to $20,000. Walker was taken into custody after his attorney, Harvey Steinberg, said he didn’t have the money.
Walker chose to have his case decided by a judge. Steinberg said it was the first time in his 27 years of practicing law that he took the option, because of the highly sensitive case details and technical legal points.
Sentencing is set for April 27. Walker faces four to 12 years in prison on each of the 30 charges of sexual exploitation of a child, two to six years in prison up to mandatory lifetime supervisory parole on each of the two enticement of a child charges and two to six years in prison for each of the three unlawful sexual contact charges.
“I hope he never sees the light of day out of prison,” Buschkoetter said.
Walker faces similar charges in Adams County.
Investigators say there are other victims and for anyone with information to call Jefferson County sheriff’s investigator Lee Hoag at 303-271-5612.
Buschkoetter and his father, Stan, said it is important for child victims to tell an adult what happened and for their parents to listen.
“If it happens,” Buschkoetter said, “you’re not in the wrong.”
Staff writer Ann Schrader can be reached at 303-278-3217 or aschrader@denverpost.com.
