Opinion ID: 2708545
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Baker’s Underlying Conduct

Text: Baker was convicted of criminal sexual assault in Chicago, Illinois, in January 1982 and July 1983, and sentenced to concurrent 8-year prison terms. He was released on parole in 1986, and within three months of that release, kidnapped, threatened, and sexually assaulted two other women. For those state offenses, Baker received concurrent 28-year prison sentences. Baker was released from prison on parole in 2000 but later taken back into custody in 2002 to serve a 2-year prison term for a state aggravated fleeing offense. Upon his subsequent parole release in March 2003, Baker was told to register as a sex offender. He did not, and was convicted in March 2004 in an Illinois state court for failing to register as No. 13-1641 3 a sex offender. He received a 30-month term of probation, though he later violated his probation and went to jail for 6 months. Baker completed his probation sentence in 2007. In April 2007, Baker sought employment with a restaurant in the food court of an Illinois shopping mall. He claimed that he had no prior felony convictions—a lie he later acknowledged was necessary in order to secure employment. Baker continued to work at the restaurant until he was fired in December 2007 as a result of conduct involving two underage girls. On December 6 or 7, 2007, Baker invited two 14-year old girls to join him in the back area of the restaurant. He proceeded to ask the girls sexual questions and if they would engage in explicit sexual activity with him. Frightened, the girls left the area but not before Baker gave one of them his phone number. The next day, one of the girls—who were together at the time—called Baker and pretended to be the other girl. Baker repeated his desire to engage in sexual relations with the girl, but the conversation went no further. That was the last time Baker ever spoke with the girls. Nevertheless, one of the girl’s mothers became aware of the incident and contacted police. The police investigated the complaint, which led to the discovery of Baker’s extensive criminal history and prompted Baker’s employer to fire him. For reasons unknown, the state’s attorney’s office handling the matter declined to prosecute the case. Baker was involved in various state criminal matters over the next four years, including a domestic violence incident for which no charges were filed, an arrest for violating bail bond, and an arrest for driving with a suspended license and illegally transporting alcohol. Then, in February 2011, Baker 4 No. 13-1641 committed a second state sex offender registration violation by failing to report his employment at a new restaurant. Baker was incarcerated and later released on bond in March 2011. A condition of Baker’s release required him to participate in a substance-abuse treatment program, for which he checked into a residential program. Baker was discharged from that program unsuccessfully after failing to attend drug treatment and testing positive for alcohol. Baker pled guilty to the state failure to register charge in November 2011, and had his sentencing date scheduled for February 3, 2012. Another condition of Baker’s March 2011 release was to refrain from visiting social networking or dating websites. Baker ignored this and used the alias “Rob Baker” to create a profile on a dating website that included his photo and other personal identifying information. Doing this allowed Baker to begin an online relationship in November 2011 with a woman who lived in Michigan. The pair eventually became close, and Baker moved to Michigan to live with the woman and her children, ages 8 and 12. Baker informed the woman of his sex offender status, and she showed him the local Michigan police station where Baker needed to register. Again, Baker not only made the conscious decision to not register, but he also lied and told the woman that he had. He also did not clear his departure from Illinois with the proper Illinois authorities. Baker’s February 3, 2012 sentencing date on the second failure to register charge came and went without a word from Baker. A warrant for his arrest was issued on February 8, 2012, after Illinois authorities discovered Baker was two months late in reporting for sex offender registration and No. 13-1641 5 had failed to update his new address. Shortly thereafter, on February 22, a police officer stopped Baker in Michigan for speeding. The officer discovered the arrest warrant and immediately took Baker into custody, where Baker was processed and later transported back to Illinois. On March 21, 2012, a federal grand jury in Peoria, Illinois, returned a one-count indictment charging Baker with violating the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act (“SORNA”) by traveling interstate and failing to register or update his registration as a sex offender. See 18 U.S.C. § 2250(a). Baker pled guilty to the charge on May 31, 2012, without the benefit of a plea agreement.