DETROIT (MI)
MLive [Walker MI]
October 13, 2022
By John Tunison
A former Detroit area priest has been convicted of sexually assaulting a 7-year-old boy in 2004.
Joseph Baker, 60, was convicted Thursday, Oct. 13, by a Wayne County jury of first-degree criminal sexual conduct.
Baker was accused of assaulting the boy at St. Mary Parish in Wayne. He is now 26 and testified at trial.
State Attorney General Dana Nessel announced the conviction Thursday.
“We are committed to ensuring that every case of sexual abuse and assault is thoroughly reviewed and that whenever we are able to pursue justice for a victim, we do so aggressively and relentlessly,” Nessel said in a written statement. “We must all commit to breaking down the walls of silence that so often surround sexual assault and abuse.”