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	Former LA Priest Arrested for Parole Violation Sacramento Bee November 4, 2011 http://www.sacbee.com/2011/11/03/4029692/former-la-priest-arrested-for.html A former Los Angeles Roman Catholic priest who was convicted of the sexual abuse of two boys was arrested in Orange County on a parole violation just weeks after his release, police said Thursday. Police officers in Costa Mesa assisted a parole agent in the arrest of Michael Baker in the city Wednesday, Costa Mesa police Sgt. Stephanie Selinske said. It was not clear how Baker violated parole, and Selinske had no further details. The former priest pleaded guilty in 2007 to 12 felony counts related to the abuse of two boys he met at parishes in Pico Rivera and Los Angeles. Baker served more than five years of a 10-year prison sentence for the conviction and was scheduled to be released in August. He was released from custody last month after Los Angeles County prosecutors dropped a bid to keep him locked up indefinitely in a mental hospital by designating him as a sexually violent predator. His parole region includes Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, San Diego and Imperial counties. Baker's case seriously tarnished the reputation of then-Cardinal Roger Mahony, who said Baker told him at a retreat in 1986 that he had molested two young boys. Mahony said he didn't alert anyone because the priest told him the children were illegal immigrants who had returned to Mexico. When the Los Angeles archdiocese settled its abuse cases for a record-breaking $660 million in 2007, lead plaintiff attorney Ray Boucher estimated that Baker's conduct accounted for $40 million of the total. The two boys whose allegations led to the criminal case received a $1.2 million settlement. Baker was initially charged with 34 counts of molestation involving six victims. Those charges were dismissed in 2003 after the U.S. Supreme Court voided a California law that allowed the prosecution of cases involving acts that occurred before 1988. However, allegations by the two boys and one other man allowed prosecutors to file charges against Baker that were within the statute of limitations. In January 2006, the former priest was arrested at Los Angeles International Airport as he returned from a vacation in Thailand. He was later sentenced to more than 10 years in prison, but was released early due to time served while awaiting trial and credits for good behavior.
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