Attorney General Dana Nessel charged a sixth priest with criminal sexual conduct on Monday, after he was arrested by special agents from the AG’s office.
Father Joseph (Jack) Baker was arrested in Wayne County and charged with one count of first-degree criminal sexual conduct — sexual penetration with a person under 13.
The Archdiocese of Detroit provided a tip to the AG’s clergy abuse team immediately after receiving the original report on Baker. His arrest is part of Nessel’s developing investigation into abuse by clergy in the Catholic Church.
“This is just the tip of the iceberg,” Nessel said in a press release. “Our clergy abuse investigative team is working day and night to review the hundreds of thousands of pages of documents and files seized from all seven of Michigan’s dioceses last fall. At the same time, we continue to receive calls daily from victims who know we will listen to them, believe in them, and investigate their allegations. They deserve nothing less than our very best.”
Baker has worked as a pastor at St. Perpetua Parish in Waterford since 2008; he's also been a pastor at St. Mary Parish in Wayne, an associate pastor at St. Hugo of the Hills Parish in Bloomfield Hills, and an associate pastor at Sacred Heart Parish in Dearborn.
His arraignment will take place at the 29th District Court in Wayne.
Nessel previously announced on May 24 that five former priests were charged with 21 counts of criminal sexual misconduct, including Timothy Michael Crowley, Neil Kalina, Vincent DeLorenzo, Patrick Casey, and Jacob Vellian. MT detailed their charges in a previous report.
Stay on top of Detroit news and views. Sign up for our weekly issue newsletter delivered each Wednesday.
