Wednesday, August 17, 2016

Key figure in Upton divorce case has ties to Shelby County's notorious Dr. William Flynn Walker and one of Alabama's worst cases of child sexual abuse


Gincie Walker Upton
A central figure in the Upton v. Upton divorce case has strong connections to probably one of the worst cases of child sexual abuse in Alabama history.

Gincie Walker essentially was the daughter of Linda and Bill Upton when she began a sexual relationship with Bill, who is the multimillionaire president of Vulcan Steel Products in Pelham. That prompted Bill Upton to file for divorce from Linda, his wife of more than 30 years, and led to a case that included numerous dubious rulings by private judge Gary Pate.

Bill Upton, who generally was the beneficiary of Pate's rulings, has since married Gincie Walker (her name now is Gincie Walker Upton), and they live in Mountain Brook. Linda Upton has remarried and still lives in the marital residence after being forced to pay Bill Upton for his share of the property, despite egregious marital misconduct -- to which Bill Upton admitted in a deposition.

Where does child sexual abuse enter the picture? Gincie Walker Upton has been diagnosed with multiple-personality disorder, with roughly 30 distinct personalities. How did Ms. Upton come to have such a severe mental disability? Multiple factors probably are involved, but she was born into a family that apparently took dysfunction to levels most people cannot imagine.

Her biological father is Dr. William Flynn Walker. By all accounts that we've heard, Dr. Walker was a brilliant physician and a major figure in the evangelical religious movement in Shelby and south Jefferson counties. He was a leader at Briarwood Presbyterian Church before going on to start Evangel Christian School, a home-school ministry of Evangel Church PCA (Presbyterian Church of America) in Alabaster.

But Dr. William Flynn Walker's life behind the facade included horrifying acts against children. In October 2005, he was indicted on seven counts related to child sexual abuse. This is from a a Shelby County Reporter article on the case:

A well-known member of the Shelby County home-school community has been indicted by a federal grand jury for interstate transportation of children for illegal sex acts.

William Flynn Walker, 48, of Shelby, was charged in a seven-count indictment filed last week in U.S. District Court in Birmingham.

Walker is charged with transporting three different children across state lines between 1984 and 2004 and engaging in illegal sexual acts with them.

Our research indicates conservative religious and political figures have been remarkably quiet about the case from the outset. In fact, state law-enforcement officials in Shelby County reportedly ignored evidence of Walker's secret life until federal officials finally entered the picture when he transported children across state lines. Here is more from the Shelby County Reporter:

Walker is known in home-school circles for his role in the founding of Evangel Christian School, a Helena-based organization formed as a ministry of Evangel Church, PCA.

However, church leaders refused to comment on Walker’s official role at the church or with the home-school group.

If convicted on federal charges, Walker could face a maximum sentence of 130 years in prison and a fine of $1,750.

He also faces prosecution by the Shelby County District Attorney’s office, stemming from two sex-related charges filed in May.

Walker was arrested in Jefferson County, where he worked as a physician in Birmingham and charged with sexual abuse and first-degree sodomy.

Would Walker have gotten away with sodomy, sexual abuse, and other unspeakable acts involving children if he had not invoked federal jurisdiction by transporting children across state lines? Our guess is yes -- that powerful religious, political, and law-enforcement figures were determined to cover for him, probably because of his ties to Briarwood and Evangel Christian.

Evangel Christian PCA in Alabaster, AL

In August 2006, William Flynn Walker was sentenced to 27 years in federal prison, without the possibility of parole. He was sentenced to 20 years in prison on the state charges. He is due for release in 2033 and will be on state probation for the rest of his life. From a Shelby County Reporter article:

Shelby resident William Flynn Walker, 49, who was indicted last October on seven counts of transporting minors across state lines and engaging in sex acts with minors, was sentenced in federal court last week to serve 27 years in prison without the possibility of parole.

Walker was also sentenced to 20 years in prison in Shelby County district court in April. Walker will serve the two sentences concurrently.

Walker was sentenced on charges that he transported three separate children seven times over state lines to commit sex acts with them between 1984 and 2004.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Jim Phillips confirmed Monday that Walker will also be required to pay $100,000 in restitution for his crimes.

Strangely, the article does not say if Walker pleaded guilty or was convicted by a jury. In another strange twist, a search at al.com turns up nothing about the William Flynn Walker case--and I can find no photos of William Flynn Walker on the Web.

William Flynn Walker is being held at the Federal Correctional Institute at Butner, North Carolina. Here is information about him from the Federal Bureau of Prisons Web site:


WILLIAM FLYNN WALKER

Register Number: 25462-001

Age: 59

Race: White

Sex: Male

Located at: Butner Low FCI

Release Date: 11/15/2023

We are guessing that the 2023 release date is a mistake. A 27-year sentence should put his release at 2033, as stated in news reports.

Bill and Gincie Upton
(From facebook.com)


Was Gincie Walker Upton, as a child, one of her father's victims? Did he have accomplices who abused her and other children? It seems unlikely that Dr. Walker acted alone, although no one else has been implicated in the case. Was Gincie Walker abused in a way that led her to have multiple-personality disorder--and did that condition play a major role in the breakup of the Upton marriage?

This much seems clear: Linda Upton, who adopted four special-needs children and fostered numerous others, genuinely seemed to be trying to help a troubled youngster when she took Gincie Walker into her home. That led her husband to engage in abominable behavior, and Alabama's dysfunctional court system piled on by making sure Linda Upton would receive a division of property that was nowhere near what she was entitled to under the law.

31 comments:

Anonymous said...

I see you got putnam again.

Anonymous said...

My experience has been that it doesn't matter what judge you get down there. They all are corrupt. Do you know of any that aren't corrupt?

Anonymous said...

Child sexual abuse in the Birmingham suburbs? I thought everything was sweetness and light out there.

Anonymous said...

No wonder Gincie Walker has serious emotional problems, having grown up in that environment.

Anonymous said...

If Dr. Walker had gone to a church in Midfield, this would have been a big story. The Hanson family, formerly of Bham News, are members of Briarwood, so they probably helped keep it under wraps.

Anonymous said...

Wonder why Dr. Walker was so interested in home schooling. Perhaps that is a good way to come up with abuse victims, keep kids out of the public realm?

Anonymous said...

Dr. Walker had to have help doing this, in my opinion. This has been talked about "Over the Mountain" in hush-hush tones for years. I have no doubt that quite a few white male pervs got off on this one.

Anonymous said...

What kind of physician, was he?

legalschnauzer said...

I think he was an anesthesiologist.

Anonymous said...

There appears to be almost nothing on the internet about this crime or Dr WILLIAM FLYNN WALKER. He apparently pleaded guilty to the charges.

Apparently there was an official press release at the time of Walker's sentencing.

"The U.S. Department of Justice's Federal Bureau of Investigation's Birmingham Field Office issued the following press release:

WILLIAM FLYNN WALKER was sentenced in U.S. District Court late yesterday on federal charges of interstate transportation of children for illegal sex acts. U.S. District Court Judge Virginia Emerson Hopkins sentenced WALKER, 49, of Shelby, Alabama, to 327 months (just over 27 years) in prison without parole. He will be placed on life time supervised release after the prison term is served.

"Children will be protected from predators," states U.S. Attorney Alice H. Martin. "Prison is the right place for Dr. Walker."

WALKER,...


The beginning of that press release can be viewed for free at a paid access archive, the rest apparently is available to subscribers.

Another blog appears to have what may this entire press release posted as an anonymous comment.

See this comment posted at 5:11 PM on August 04, 2006

"Anonymous said...

BIRMINGHAM DOCTOR SENTENCED ON FEDERAL CHARGES OF INTERSTATE TRANSPORTATION OF CHILDREN FOR SEX

BIRMINGHAM, AL - WILLIAM FLYNN WALKER was sentenced in U.S. District Court late yesterday on federal charges of interstate transportation of children for illegal sex acts. U.S. District Court Judge Virginia Emerson Hopkins sentenced WALKER, 49, of Shelby, Alabama, to 327 months (just over 27 years) in prison without parole. He will be placed on life time supervised release after the prison term is served.

“Children will be protected from predators,” states U.S. Attorney Alice H. Martin. “Prison is the right place for Dr. Walker.”

WALKER, a Birmingham anesthesiologest was charged on September 28, 2005, with seven counts of transporting three different children from Alabama to various locations out of state during the time period from 1986 to 2004 and engaging in illegal sexual acts with them. He plead guilty to the charges on March 8, 2006.

This case is significant in that it brings attention to a new Federal initiative: Project Safe Childhood which was launched earlier last month. Project Safe Childhood is a major Department endeavor where U.S. Attorneys will work together with local Department-funded Internet Crimes Against Children task forces, and all their other federal, state, and local partners, in unprecedented cooperative efforts to attack online pedophiles and pornographers.

This case was investigated by Special Agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the United States Postal Inspection Service. Assistant United States Attorney James E. Phillips prosecuted this matter on behalf of the U.S. Government

Don't think SJ will get out of jail anytime soon.
August 04, 2006 5:11 PM"


Anonymous said...

LS- the revocation of William Flynn Walker's medical license:


http://www.albme.org/Documents/PublicDocs/172460.pdf

e.a.f. said...

did he have "help"? were others involved? we will see if he gets early parole. birds of a feather usually flock together.

legalschnauzer said...

Thanks for sharing an important document, @10:26. Lots of new information (new in that it's not included in this post) in there. Will need to write a followup post. Again, thanks for sharing. Shines lots of new light on diabolical acts that have largely been kept from public view.

Anonymous said...

Yes, others were involved, and the Walker father going to prison did not stop the cycle, which I know LS will go into later. I am surprised you were able to even find which detention center he was in, if he is actually in one, and if your are interested in who tipped off the FBI, "2catchthieves" should have that information for you if you haven't got it already.
Sadly, LS has just barely touched on this story, but he is getting there, fans and followers of LS, this is just the tip of the proverbial glacier, hold on tightly, it will be a bumpy ride.

legalschnauzer said...

Thanks for your insights, @1:14. As you say, I feel certain I've only touched the tip of the iceberg, and it's interesting that you say the cycle has not stopped. I will need help from good sources on this story because it really has been covered up. I don't know anything about who tipped off the FBI, etc.

Since Dr. Walker himself was a distinguished professional in his field, I assume others involved (perhaps those still involved) are also what one might call "elites"? Also, I had no idea this involved travels to so many states and so far away, including international trips to Russia, etc.

Amazing that you can't even find a picture of the guy, and I've been looking for a while.

Anonymous said...

You can be damn sure 33/40 or b'ham news wants no part of this news story. Main street news has been paid off by the 1% to NOT report the news. The world need more Legal Schauzer to report the REAL news. Only people with big money can get away with crimes like this. LS, please note, these people will kill you, they will stop at nothing to keep you from reporting on their crimes. Be safe!!!!!!Trust no one!!!!

Anonymous said...

Another comment with links on the former doctor Walker may be missing, possibly in the spam folder again. Sent just prior to midnight I think. But if you don't find it, the maybe I didn't submit it. The missing comment included links to a sentencing press release which has additional information not previously posted by here.

I can resend the info in that comment if you don't find it.

Additional info on the former Doctor Walker-

Note one of the residencies in particular
http://iaaonline.org/profile.php?username=13251294

Possible year of graduation
http://careon.me/doc.php?st=al&cy=birmingham&pn=william-flynn-walker&id=40055




Anonymous said...

>>Amazing that you can't even find a picture of the guy, and I've been looking for a while.<<

Either the guy shunned all publicity and media contact, and never did anything online, or someone called the cleaners.


Knowing the charges were federal and Walker's full name you can write the caption, you'd think the case would show up in a search.

e.a.f. said...

child sexual abuse is a terrible crime and it goes on all over the world. how it continues in First world countries has always beyond me, expect for the rationale, it is a "protected" crime. The victims are people who many do not consider worthy of protection of the law.

A few years ago there were a number of arrests of "well to do, connected" people in Europe on child porn charges. There was fan fare and then silence.

If you are at the bottom of the economic barrel and you engage in sexual child abuse, you are in jail for most of your life. If you're financial well to do, you join a group who engages in "the activity" and enjoy your life.

Anonymous said...

I think the pics were scrubbed...even from the old dentistry records.
Very odd.
Definitely makes you wonder who was involved & how far the 'ring' went...Russia? the Caribbean? How come no one has commented much on that?

Who takes young girls to other states and/or Russia and/or Caribbean alone?

legalschnauzer said...

All good points, @11:19. I plan a followup post with info from the medical-license docs. Not sure many people have seen those.

Anonymous said...

Several comments submitted with additional information on this topic have not been posted.

legalschnauzer said...

I don't know what you mean, @10:04. I'm pretty sure I've published every post that has come in on this subject. If you are certain something was sent but not published, can you provide details to help me determine what happened. I haven't knowingly excluded any comments to this post. Could I have made a mistake that caused something not to publish? Yes, that's always a possibility. Also, you are welcome to resend anything that hasn't appeared, and assuming it meets are pretty loose stanards for commenting, it will be posted.

I will check my spam folder to see if anything wound up in there.

legalschnauzer said...

I did find two comments meant for this post that went to spam. I have tried to bring them out of spam, so they can be published but haven't had success so far. My time is tight at the moment, so I will have to get back to it later today. If you want to resend the comments, that would be fine. I have no idea why they went to spam.

Anonymous said...

The problem is probably due to previous comments with one or more links being routed to the sp@m folder. I have no suggestion on how to prevent this. I will try to disguise the links to see if this gets around the problem.

Anonymous said...

A press release was apparently issued at sentencing of William Flynn Walker.

First part of that press release can be viewed at a well known pay archive site (which tends to support the idea that the apparent complete repost of what is probably the same press release in the comments of a blog may be what it is.) ADD (www.) TO (highbeam.com/doc/1P3-1217200981.html) to make a link that works.


The U.S. Department of Justice's Federal Bureau of Investigation's Birmingham Field Office issued the following press release:

WILLIAM FLYNN WALKER was sentenced in U.S. District Court late yesterday on federal charges of interstate transportation of children for illegal sex acts. U.S. District Court Judge Virginia Emerson Hopkins sentenced WALKER, 49, of Shelby, Alabama, to 327 months (just over 27 years) in prison without parole. He will be placed on life time supervised release after the prison term is served.

"Children will be protected from predators," states U.S. Attorney Alice H. Martin. "Prison is the right place for Dr. Walker."

WALKER, a Birmingham anesthesiologest was charged on September 28, 2005, with seven counts of transporting three different children from Alabama to various locations out of state during the time period from 1986 to 2004 and engaging in illegal sexual acts with them. …


To read the full text of this article and others like it, subscribe today!


The blog comment with what may be the complete press release reads:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

BIRMINGHAM DOCTOR SENTENCED ON FEDERAL CHARGES OF INTERSTATE TRANSPORTATION OF CHILDREN FOR SEX

BIRMINGHAM, AL - WILLIAM FLYNN WALKER was sentenced in U.S. District Court late yesterday on federal charges of interstate transportation of children for illegal sex acts. U.S. District Court Judge Virginia Emerson Hopkins sentenced WALKER, 49, of Shelby, Alabama, to 327 months (just over 27 years) in prison without parole. He will be placed on life time supervised release after the prison term is served.

“Children will be protected from predators,” states U.S. Attorney Alice H. Martin. “Prison is the right place for Dr. Walker.”

WALKER, a Birmingham anesthesiologest was charged on September 28, 2005, with seven counts of transporting three different children from Alabama to various locations out of state during the time period from 1986 to 2004 and engaging in illegal sexual acts with them. He plead guilty to the charges on March 8, 2006.

This case is significant in that it brings attention to a new Federal initiative: Project Safe Childhood which was launched earlier last month. Project Safe Childhood is a major Department endeavor where U.S. Attorneys will work together with local Department-funded Internet Crimes Against Children task forces, and all their other federal, state, and local partners, in unprecedented cooperative efforts to attack online pedophiles and pornographers.

This case was investigated by Special Agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the United States Postal Inspection Service. Assistant United States Attorney James E. Phillips prosecuted this matter on behalf of the U.S. Government

Don't think SJ will get out of jail anytime soon.
August 04, 2006 5:11 PM


ADD (http://) TO (jewishsurvivors.blogspot.com/2006/08/thread-12-eisgraus-daughter-talks.html) TO MAKE A LINK THAT WORKS

Anonymous said...

Another comment is apparently caught in the net. Let's try one more work around.

do an internet search for the complete phrase below

"Children will be protected from predators," states U.S. Attorney Alice H. Martin. "Prison is the right place for Dr. Walker."

View all the results. One result is a blog with lots of comments which may require searching in the comments for one of the names in the phrase above to find what appears to be the complete press release.

Anonymous said...

The comment at 12:23pm was referring to the comment at 11:18am which is now posted.

Later today I'll try gain to post the info on the former DR Walker's education and and his possible pediatrics internship.

legalschnauzer said...

Thanks, @1:20. I've pulled three comments out of spam, and I'm glad to see at least one of them has posted. In my spam folder, you have two choices to click -- "Delete" and "Not Spam." I clicked "Not Spam," but the comments did not appear, and I received no prompt that I needed to do something else. Been a confusing process, and I still don't understand why they ended up in spam, although someone mentioned link issues, and that might be it.

Anonymous said...

I was a victim of this case. It was horrible and there is very little out about the case online.

Abuse like this need to be dealt with for sure. What I can say is that the courts helped us to make his sentence as long as they could.
Many cases like this just never get dealt with because people don't come out and talk about it. Abuse victims stay hidden because it's scary. Or the abuser keeps them quiet. Also, it is important to have people to come in and defend them and accuse the abuser.

I say all of this to say, it's a big deal.

Also, he acted alone. I was a victim for years, and he acted alone. While others in his sphere, should have known, he was a silent, manipulative criminal. As is often the case. This was not a cover up by the church or something odd like that. Some people are twisted and selfish. That's just the facts.

Anonymous said...

You left out the part about how Gincie got pregnant firm her father, married some poor kid that she told it was his, and then moved in with the Upton's, because Mrs. Uptown was after not Gincie, but her baby. They are all sick.