74-year-old Rochester man pleads guilty to child sexual abuse

ROCHESTER, MN (KROC-AM News) – The trial of a 74-year-old Rochester man in a child sex abuse case was scheduled to begin this morning, but was canceled due to a last-minute agreement.

According to court documents Robert Charles Baker entered a guilty plea to one count of first-degree sexual abuse before an Olmsted County judge this morning. Under the terms of the plea deal, prosecutors have dropped their request for an increased sentence in his case.

The criminal complaint against Baker was filed in February last year and alleges he repeatedly sexually assaulted a six-year-old girl between January and August 2022. The court document says Baker became the focus of an investigation after Rochester police were contacted by a Mayo Clinic director who reported that a young female patient had “potentially been sexually assaulted.”

The criminal complaint says the victim identified Baker as the person who sexually abused her. When describing the abuse suffered, the criminal complaint also pointed out that the victim had “inappropriately comprehensive knowledge of human sexuality.”

The court document also lists audio and video recordings from the security system at Baker’s home as evidence in the case. The criminal complaint states that the recordings captured conversations between the child and Baker in which he discussed his plans to sexually abuse her.

His plea agreement shows Baker acknowledges that his conviction carries a recommended sentence of 12 years in prison, but also says the judge in the case could impose a sentence of up to 172 months, or just over 14 years.

Baker is scheduled to be sentenced in early July and is expected to argue for a departure from the state’s downward sentencing guidelines.

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