January 21, 2006

Ex-priest jailed in L.A. in abuse of Tucsonan

ARIZONA
Arizona Daily Star

By Stephanie Innes
Arizona Daily Star
Tucson, Arizona | Published: 01.21.2006

The high-profile arrest of a former Roman Catholic priest from Los Angeles stems from accusations that he sexually abused a Tucson resident.
Michael Stephen Baker, formerly of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles, is in jail in California on suspicion of lewd acts against a child.
The Thursday arrest of Baker, 58, is connected to an accusation that he molested a child in Southern California from 1988 to 1996, said Sgt. Dan Scott of the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department's special victims bureau.
The boy is now 27 and living in Tucson, his attorney said. He is one of two brothers who say they were repeatedly raped by Baker for 15 years, beginning in 1984 and ending in 1999, according to Lynne M. Cadigan, their Tucson attorney. California's statute of limitations prevents authorities from filing charges for any sexual abuse that occurred before Jan. 1, 1988.

Posted by kshaw at January 21, 2006 08:38 AM