Cub Scout leader accused of molesting children pleads guilty, Missouri officials say
A former Cub Scout leader pleaded guilty Monday to sex abuse charges and trying to prevent children from testifying, Missouri officials say.
Matthew C. Baker, 51, pleaded guilty to charges of child molestation, sodomy, witness tampering and exposing himself, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported. His guilty plea includes sexual abuse of five children at his home in O’Fallon, Missouri and threatening to harm two kids if they didn’t remove their accusations, the newspaper reported.
Baker was first arrested in October 2018 after reports of the sexual assault of a child, police say. After media coverage of the case, more victims came forward and Baker was indicted on additional charges in January 2019, according to the St. Charles Prosecuting Attorney.
In June, Baker was charged with witness tampering after police say he asked a jail inmate to harm two of the victims, KMOV reported. Police learned of the scheme when a former inmate told investigators Baker wanted him to deliver notes to parents of the children, the news outlet reported.
“This monster doesn’t deserve to breathe another breath outside of a prison cell,” Prosecuting Attorney Tim Lohmar said, according to KSDK.
Baker was sentenced to a life term determined to be 30 years, and he’ll be eligible for parole at age 70, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported.
The mother of an 8-year-old boy told Baker during the sentencing hearing that she’ll be a “thorn in his side” to ensure he’s never granted parole, KSDK reported.
Baker was a Cub Scout leader in O’Fallon at the time of his arrest in 2018, KSDK reported. He was later terminated from the Boy Scouts of America organization.
Baker’s sentencing lands on the same day as a deadline for sexual abuse claims to be filed against the Boy Scouts organization in a bankruptcy case, The Associated Press reported. Nearly 90,000 claims have been submitted so far, and a compensation fund will be created to pay settlements, according to the AP.
Cub Scouts is part of the Boy Scouts. It’s designed for students in kindergarten through fifth grade.
“We are devastated by the number of lives impacted by past abuse in Scouting and moved by the bravery of those who have come forward,” the Boy Scouts said in a statement to the AP. “We are heartbroken that we cannot undo their pain.”
This story was originally published November 16, 2020 at 2:07 PM with the headline "Cub Scout leader accused of molesting children pleads guilty, Missouri officials say."