Megan Walls, and 3 siblings

Megan Walls (pictured, b. 1997) was sexually abused by her father, Michael Walls. Megan and her siblings were homeschooled—Walls distrusted the government and told Megan school would “brainwash” her.

Walls married Megan’s mother M.S. when he was in his twenties and M.S. was 14 years old. Walls and M.S. had four children together: A., B., Megan, and Mi. The children’s mother left the family around 2000, shortly after Mi.’s birth. Within a year or so, Walls began raping Megan, who was then around 4. He continued to rape her multiple times per week until 2013. Megan testified that she didn’t realize there was anything abnormal about the rapes, and that Walls instructed her not to tell anyone about them. According to authorities, the children’s lives included physical and mental abuse, “no socialization, little communication with family, no friendships to speak of, and no schooling, formal or otherwise.” At trial Walls “admitted he neglected his children’s’ homeschooling.” A family member, likely Walls’s mother E.W., also alleged that Megan’s older brother sexually abused Megan. When the children were rescued, Mi. had a speech disability.

The abuse came to light in June 2013 when authorities received a tip about educational neglect and sexual abuse. They interviewed Megan and Mi., who were the only children still living at home, but they denied the abuse. Walls was ordered to surrender custody but instead fled to Florida with the children. He was apprehended and the children were placed in foster homes and began to attend school. Megan finally disclosed her father’s sexual abuse to a teacher in May 2014. In 2016 Walls was convicted on 24 counts of rape, among other charges. After his conviction was overturned in 2018, he was re-tried and again convicted of the same charges in 2019.

Date: June 25, 2013
Location: Sandusky, Ohio

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