Northampton County man charged with raping multiple children

A Bath man faces 20 felony charges after being accused of raping and sexually assaulting several children, state police said.

Jean Carlos Agosto Baez, 39, of the 100 block of West Main Street, faces charges in two separate cases for allegedly sexually abusing a girl and several boys and forcing some of his victims to watch pornography, authorities said.

The first case includes three counts of rape, involuntary deviant sexual intercourse with a child under 16 years of age and two counts of sexual assault of a child under 13 years of age.

The second case will involve four counts of rape and three counts of involuntary deviant sexual intercourse, authorities said.

Agosto Baez is also charged in the second case with: two counts of felony knowingly photographing, videotaping or computer-generating a child engaged in an illicit sex act; two counts of felony distributing photographs of sex acts; two counts of felony sexual assault; aggravated sexual assault of a child under 16; and two counts of felony sexual assault without consent.

No attorney for Agosto Baez was listed in court records Thursday.

The case began in October 2023, when Pennsylvania State Police in Bethlehem received a tip about an alleged sexual assault at the home of Agosto Baez. The tip said he had inappropriately touched a child, sexually assaulted two juveniles and masturbated in front of two juveniles about a year earlier, court records show.

In November 2023, the mother of one of the alleged victims contacted police after learning about the alleged incident in 2022. She said Agosto Baez also sexually abused one of the minors in the summer of 2023, court records state.

In December 2023, one of the alleged victims told a child protection center specialist that Agosto Baez sexually abused him and two other boys in Agosto Baez’s home, court records show. The same boy also reported several other alleged sexual assaults in the home and in Agosto Baez’s car.

The affidavit states: “Agosto Baez told the boy, ‘Make sure no one finds out about this.'”

After the incidents, Agosto Baez shared nude photos of a girl and videos of the alleged sexual assault with the boys, court documents say. Agosto Baez is also accused of forcing one of the male victims to take nude photos of a girl.

A girl told a child protection center specialist in December that she was raped and sexually abused multiple times by Agosto Baez at his Bath home, court records show. She also said Agosto Baez forced her to watch pornography.

Two other boys said they were sexually abused by Agosto Baez at his home and at a home in Carbon County, court records say.

Court records show that Agosto Baez told at least one victim not to tell her mother about the sexual assault, and another was told she could not go home unless she cooperated with the sexual assault.

Agosto Baez was arraigned on both counts on May 24 before District Judge Jacqueline Taschner. Taschner set bail on each count at $500,000, for a total of $1 million. Agosto Baez was remanded to the Northampton County Jail in lieu of bail.

He must appear in court again for a preliminary hearing tentatively scheduled for 9 a.m. Monday to determine if there is enough evidence to bring the new charges to the Lehigh County Court of Common Pleas.

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Pamela Sroka-Holzmann can be reached at [email protected].