Mark Samuel Baker pictured during a previous Yellowstone District Court appearance.
A former police officer in Winchester, Virginia, nabbed in a To Catch a Predator-like “undercover sting” operation was convicted by a federal jury Tuesday in Montana of attempted sex trafficking of a minor and now faces a mandatory minimum of 10 years in prison because he refused to enter a plea deal.
Mark Samuel Baker, a 57-year-old from Gore, was found guilty of arranging a sexual encounter with a girl he believed to be under 16 years old in July 2022. Unbeknownst to Baker at the time, the minor was an undercover law enforcement officer who had posted an ad on the internet and was waiting to see who would respond and how.
In a trial brief from Sept. 13, prosecutors said that they would prove Baker “knowingly attempted to recruit, entice, obtain, patronize, and solicit a minor, knowing it would cause that minor to engage in a commercial sex act.” Baker’s own words and subsequent actions formed the most powerful evidence that the government used to prove the elements of the crime.
“On July 11, 2022, law enforcement used the internet to post an advertisement in an undercover capacity, purporting to be a female escort who was the minimum allowed posting age of 18. The undercover received a message in response to the ad about 6 hours later from a phone number later identified to be Mark Baker,” the brief said. “The message read ‘Donations? Thanks.’ Law enforcement responded on July 12, 2022, asking if Baker wanted ‘a date.””
Prosecutors alleged that in the two days that followed, the undercover cop asked Baker: “Are u okay if I’m not 18?”
“Yes as long as you are ok I’m 49,” the defendant responded, not revealing his actual age.
“I’m almost 16 if ur cool w that,” the undercover cop replied.
Prosecutors said that Baker expressed a desire to meet up in Billings, Montana, take the minor back to his hotel, and pay her $80 for “sex.”
Baker took a “substantial step toward committing the crime” by driving to Montana.
Read Related Also: Here are the wealthiest small towns in each state – see which community is tops in your area
“After describing the car he would be driving and arriving at the designated time, Baker was taken into custody on July 13, 2022, around 7:00pm. A call was then placed to the phone number law enforcement had been texting, and a smartphone in Baker’s vehicle lit up with the undercover’s number,” the trial brief continued.
After he was arrested due to the sting operation, Baker identified himself as a former police officer and claimed he drove to the park “just to see what would happen.” But cops found evidence that suggested exactly what Baker wanted to happen: “Law enforcement found $375 in cash, a hotel passkey, and four condoms on Baker’s person.”
After a two-day trial, jurors unanimously agreed that prosecutors proved their case.
Jury unanimously convicts Mark Samuel Baker.
And because he went to trial and lost in this way, Baker faces the prospect of at least 10 years in prison.
Prosecutors noted that Baker “rejected all formal offers from the government to resolve this case” — even an offer “which would not subject Baker to the mandatory minimum sentence currently charged.” He also faces a $250,000 fine and supervised release of five years to life.
“Baker got caught in an undercover sting when he tried to arrange to have commercial sex with an individual he thought was a minor under 16. His conduct exploits children and contributes to the scourge of sex trafficking, which our office will continue to aggressively prosecute,” U.S. Attorney for the District of Montana Jesse Laslovich summarized the case in a statement.
Court notes from Tuesday, Sept. 19, show that the jury began deliberations at 11:41 a.m. and sent a note at 1:12 p.m. saying they had reached a verdict. The guilty verdict was read 26 minutes later and Baker was remanded into the custody of U.S. Marshals to await sentencing.
Have a tip we should know? [email protected]
