Stepfather Pleads to Raping Teen For Years
By John S. Hausman, Chronicle Staff Writer
Originally published in the Muskegon Chronicle, July 27, 2001
A Muskegon man has pleaded no contest to raping his teen-age stepdaughter, fathering her two children—including one who died minutes after birth in a high school restroom.
But Thursday's plea by Walter Neal Jr., 44, is conditional: He reserves his right to appeal a judge's earlier decision to let Neal's confession to police be used at trial.
Should Neal appeal that ruling and win—thereby suppressing his confession—he could still withdraw his "no contest" plea and go to trial. If he doesn't appeal, or if the Michigan Court of Appeals rejects his appeal, the conviction will be final.
Prosecutors say they aren't worried because they have plenty of other compelling evidence against Neal, including DNA tests indicating he fathered both children born to his stepdaughter.
Neal, of 215 Catherine, pleaded Thursday to both felony charges facing him: two counts of first-degree criminal sexual conduct with a person between 13 and 15 years old. The victim was his stepdaughter, Sequita Hall, now 17.
Neal made no statement at his plea before Muskegon's 14th Circuit Judge James M. Graves Jr. Neal faces up to life in prison on both counts.
A "no contest" plea is treated the same as a guilty plea at sentencing. Graves has scheduled sentencing for Sept. 4.
Under the conditional plea, agreed to by the judge and the Muskegon County Prosecutor's office, Neal could still appeal Graves' confession ruling after he is sentenced.
In late May, Graves denied Neal's motion to suppress the confession he made to Muskegon police detectives after his arrest last October.
Neal had claimed detectives violated his constitutional rights when they allegedly coerced an emotional response from him by handing him a picture of the dead infant. Neal had previously said he would not answer questions without an attorney present, and none had yet been called. After he saw the photo, Neal confessed.
Neal also claimed he was under the influence of "crack" cocaine at the time of his confession.
In an opinion and order May 30, Graves rejected both arguments. He ruled that Neal himself voluntarily reopened conversation with detectives about the case by asking a detective, "So, is that Sequita's baby they found up there?"
Graves also decided Neal was not under the influence of any drug while in police custody.
"My office will be seeking a very lengthy prison sentence, as I feel Mr. Neal was responsible for the negative impact on his children," Muskegon County Prosecutor Tony Tague said after the plea. "We'll be asking for life or a very, very lengthy term of years."
Tague said he is unworried about the case's ultimate outcome. "The bottom line is, we had DNA evidence, confessions—the evidence was overwhelming, and I'm quite sure we would have won at trial.
"I'm confident that the conviction will stand, and that Mr. Neal will spend the remainder of his life behind bars," Tague said.
Neal's attorney, Harold F. Closz III, could not be reached for comment after the pleas.
At other court proceedings earlier this year, prosecutors said DNA testing confirmed Neal was the father of Hall's two children.
In addition, authorities said Neal admitted repeatedly raping his stepdaughter from about May 1997 until late last year--ongoing sexual abuse that resulted in the births of two children. The second child was Isaiah Jeremiah Hall, whose body was found several hours after birth last October in a Muskegon High School restroom. A daughter, Israel, was born in 1997.
Sequita Hall in March was placed on probation after pleading guilty to concealing Isaiah Jeremiah Hall's death and illegally disposing of the child's body in a washroom trash can.
At that time, 14th Circuit Family Court Judge John Ruck in a separate ruling also ordered the girl and her 15-year-old brother reunited with their mother, Sarah Neal. She is now divorced from Walter Neal.
Walter Neal has been lodged in the Muskegon County Jail since January, when Graves increased his bond from $50,000 to $500,000 after family members accused him of threatening to kill his family if he were charged with raping his stepdaughter.
