Soldier facing murder trial guilty of sex abuse

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HONOLULU — An Army medic charged with conspiring with his lover to kill his wife was convicted in Hawaii of sexually abusing a child.

A military judge found Pvt. Michael Walker guilty after a court martial, Tripler Army Medical Center spokeswoman Leanne Thomas said Thursday.

The judge also convicted Walker of assault by battery and communicating a threat. He was sentenced to 10 years in prison.

The crimes occurred on Oahu in 2014, Thomas said. Army defense attorneys couldn’t immediately be reached for comment.

Last year, a military court found Walker guilty of child pornography charges that surfaced during the investigating into his wife’s killing.

Walker has been awaiting trial in federal court on a murder charge in the killing of Catherine Walker. He has pleaded not guilty.

Catherine Walker was found stabbed to death in November 2014 in the military housing the couple shared in Honolulu.

Walker’s lover, Ailsa Jackson, pleaded guilty to murder in 2015.

Walker and Jackson met through an online dating site in September 2014.

Walker told her that he was married and that his “deepest desire” was to have his wife gone, but he couldn’t divorce her, Assistant U.S. Attorney Tom Brady said during Jackson’s plea hearing.

The lovers then discussed Jackson carrying out the killing while Walker was at work so he would have an alibi, Brady said.

Jury selection for Walker’s trial is scheduled Aug. 8. Jackson is scheduled to be sentenced later that month.