INDIANAPOLIS — A 56-year-old Plainfield, Indiana man was sentenced to 35 years in prison on Thursday for sexually exploiting a 13-year-old Illinois girl in 2017.
Kevin Baker was already a registered sex offender who was in the midst of a 48-month probation sentence when he was charged for sexually exploiting the minor. Baker's first offense of soliciting a child occurred outside state lines as well, in Battle Creek, Michigan.
Baker was using a messaging app to talk and receive child pornography images from the 13-year-old girl in 2017.
On Jun. 15, 2017, Baker traveled to Paxton, Illinois, where he retrieved the minor and went back to a hotel in Plainfield with him for sexual contact.
After, Baker left the 13-year-old alone and barefoot in the hotel room.
One day later, the victim called her mother from a nearby tire shop. The 13-year-old's mother called the local police, who then recovered her from a nearby restaurant.
"While no sentence can change the damage that Mr. Baker has inflicted on his young victim, it should serve as an example to others who sexually exploit children that they too should expect appropriately strong punishment for their heinous actions," Special Agent Grant Mendenhall, FBI Indianapolis, said. "It should also serve as a reminder that the FBI and our law enforcement partners remain committed to identifying, investigating, and bringing these defendants to justice."
Following his prison sentence, Baker will be supervised for the rest of his life, according to Assistant U.S. Attorney Tiffany Preston.
