Documentary record Bound by Fear
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Conviction Christian institutions & contexts Catholic Lansing, Michigan, USA · 2023

Michigan: priest Joseph 'Jack' Baker sentenced for first-degree criminal sexual conduct

Record class

Core record

Evidence status

Convicted

Authority role

Catholic priest, pastor at multiple Michigan parishes

Organization

Diocese of Lansing

Spiritual nexus

Access to the child arose from Baker's position as a parish pastor within the Diocese of Lansing.

  • Pastoral or clerical authority

Evidence structure

Proceedings

  1. 2023-03-01 · conviction and sentencing

    Michigan circuit court (Michigan Department of Attorney General prosecution). Joseph 'Jack' Baker was convicted on one count of first-degree criminal sexual conduct for sexual penetration of a person under 13 arising from a 2004 rape, and was sentenced to 3 to 15 years' incarceration. One of nine convictions secured through the Michigan attorney general's clergy-abuse investigation, which charged 11 clergy members and convicted 9.

Documented coercion mechanisms

  • parish and pastoral access to a child under 13

Primary record

Sources

official attorney general press release prosecution summary Michigan Department of Attorney General, 'Active Clergy Abuse Prosecutions Conclude with Sentencing of Ann Arbor Priest for Criminal Sexual Conduct' (Nov. 9, 2023).

Official AG press release summarizing the conclusion of the clergy-abuse prosecution docket, recording 11 clergy charged and 9 convicted, including Baker's sentence.

state news roundup case status compilation 'Here's where the Michigan AG's sweeping Catholic clergy sex abuse investigation stands,' Gander Newsroom.

Roundup naming all nine convicted priests with charges and sentences, including Baker's 3-to-15-year sentence.

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