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	Former L.A. Priest Accused of Sex Abuse Eying Plea Deal By Andrew Glazer Union-Tribune July 30, 2007 http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/state/20070730-1629-ca-calchurchabuse.html Los Angeles – A man who claims his life was ruined when he was sexually abused by a Catholic priest raised his middle fingers in court Monday during a hearing where a judge said a plea deal was being discussed for the now-defrocked defendant in a separate case. Superior Court Commissioner James Bianco acknowledged the talks and ordered both sides to return to court on Sept. 7 to disclose whether a deal was near for Michael Stephen Baker. Baker, 60, has pleaded not guilty to one count each of oral copulation of a minor and sexual penetration of an unconscious person with a foreign object, and three counts of sodomy of a minor. Attorney Leonard B. Levine, who represents Baker, and Deputy District Attorney Marc Beaart both declined to provide further details outside court. With a close-cropped white beard and bearish build, Baker resembled Ernest Hemingway as he entered the glass courtroom holding pen and smiled in the direction of Dominic Zamora. Zamora, 34, stood crying in the back of the courtroom and made the obscene gesture. Zamora is not an alleged victim in the current case but previously accused Baker of molesting him when he was a 7-year-old student at St. Paul of the Cross Catholic school in La Mirada. The acts led to years of alcoholism, depression and stints in prison, he said. "It's been so long," Zamora said outside the courtroom, wiping his red eyes. "I'm 34 years old and I'm crying. It's that smile of his that gets to me. I have nightmares about that smile." Zamora's criminal case and a dozen others against Baker were dropped after the U.S. Supreme Court voided a California law that allowed the prosecution of cases involving acts that occurred before 1988. The current charges against Baker include having sex with a 15-year-old boy from 1996-1998. The Los Angeles Archdiocese removed Baker from the priesthood in 2000. He was arrested in January 2006. Earlier this month, the archdiocese announced a $660 million settlement with a number of plaintiffs who said they had been abused by priests. Zamora is among the those who will receive payment in the case.
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