A convicted sex offender testified Monday that he had no intention of trying to abduct a 12-year-old girl in Temecula, telling jurors that he had too much to lose and would never have risked his freedom by snatching a child off of the street.
“I did not try to tell her to get into my car,” Robert Francis Baker told jurors as he rested his case following a two-week trial that could see him returned to prison for the rest of his life if he’s convicted.
“I had no chloroform, no mask, no gun — nothing you need for a kidnapping. There’s no evidence that I tried to abduct the victim. I wouldn’t do anything that could ruin what I’ve worked so hard for all my life,” he said.
Baker is charged with attempted kidnapping to commit rape, attempted lewd acts on a child, annoyance of a child by a registered sex offender and two counts of being in possession of child porn.
The 69-year-old defendant is acting as his own attorney and spent 90 minutes testifying on his own behalf, often rambling about his relationships with women, his casino winnings, singing career, failing health and efforts to see to the needs to his now-98-year-old mother, with whom he resided in Hemet.
Riverside County Superior Court Judge Michael Donner repeatedly cautioned Baker not to “give a closing statement,” as he would have an opportunity to do that at the end of the trial.
The defendant choked and wept on several occasions, particularly when he pondered not being able to care for his mother in her final days.
“I have to take care of my mom,” he told the jury. “She comes first. I’m an only child.”
Baker, who spent a decade in state prison for molesting an 11-year-old girl in San Diego County, testified that after his release in 2005, he was never once late to a meeting with his parole officer and has made it a habit over the last 12 years to avoid general contact with minors.
The former charter boat captain said he had “no blemish” on his record and no run-ins with law enforcement until last Aug. 12, when he was arrested for allegedly harassing the victim, identified in court documents only as “J.M.”
“I didn’t have any time to do anything inappropriate to her,” Baker said. “Why would I offer some 12-year-old girl money to come with me?”
The defendant reiterated part of his opening statement, insisting that he was trying to locate a Temecula dentist on Pauba Road for a $6,000 dental procedure when he encountered the youngster. Baker said he was disoriented, unfamiliar with the area, and pulled over to ask the girl for directions.
He admitted asking her twice whether she wanted a ride, even though she told him “no” the first time because her parents had warned her not to accept rides from strangers. Baker also acknowledged flashing a wad of cash at her, but said that he was trying to pull out his driver’s license to put her at ease, and the cash and card were bound together by a rubber band.
“I was two seconds from pulling away, and in comes a hand and badge, telling me to turn off the car,” the defendant said, referring to his detention by District Attorney’s Office Investigator Ron McGowan.
According to Deputy District Attorney Ed Jensen, McGowan was in the area on business and witnessed the alleged interaction between Baker and the girl while driving by. Jensen said the investigator stopped and asked the girl whether she knew Baker, and when she didn’t, “Ron intervened and detained the defendant.”
Sheriff’s deputies were summoned and initiated an investigation, during which they found multiple vibrators, condoms and lubricants in Baker’s rented vehicle, according to Jensen. He also alleged that a search of the defendant’s Hemet home resulted in the seizure of several laptop computers loaded with child pornography.
Baker was convicted in 1993 of multiple counts of lewd acts on a minor.
He’s being held in lieu of $1.5 million bail at the Southwest Detention Center in Murrieta.
–City News Service