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A Nicholasville man and his son face federal charges for allegedly traveling across state lines to have sex with a 13-year-old Ohio girl.

Robert Wayne Baker, 23, was taken into custody Feb. 25 when federal agents raided his uncle’s home in Lincoln County where he was living. He is being held without bond in the Fayette County Detention Center on a federal charge of engaging in interstate commerce involving illicit sexual conduct with a minor.

Ernest Wayne Baker, 45, of Nicholasville, had a detainer placed on him for the same charge by federal authorities, according to Capt. Brian Shearer of the Jessamine County Detention Center.

Ernest Baker has been held under a $10,000 bond at the Jessamine jail for allegedly violating an emergency protective order against his wife and tampering with evidence on Feb. 22.

The charge against Robert Baker is based on a criminal complaint by FBI Agent Mary Trotman. In a 22-page affidavit filed Monday in U.S. District Court in Lexington, Trotman provides a detailed account of how multiple police agencies teamed up to develop information on the Bakers’ alleged involvement with a 13-year-old girl in December, January and February.

Cell phone photos

According to the affidavit, the investigation began on Feb. 22 after Ernest Baker’s wife, Felicia Baker, confronted him about pictures of naked young girls she discovered on his cell phone. An altercation ensued, with Ernest Baker allegedly cutting his wife with his car keys as he left their Nicholasville home taking only his laptop computer.

Felicia Baker went to Nicholasville police to take out an Emergency Protection Order, and Ernest Baker was later taken into custody for violating it. While Baker was detained, his cell phone rang and was answered by a Nicholasville officer. The caller was later identified as the girl and she ended up telling police about her alleged sexual encounters with Ernest Baker, according to Trotman’s affidavit.

Nicholasville police then contacted officers in Bluffton, where an investigation into the possible rape of a 13-year-old girl was under way, the affidavit states.

An Ohio FBI agent then interviewed the girl with her parents’ permission. The girl provided details of her alleged relationship with Ernest Baker and later his son, Robert Baker.

KG said she maintained accounts on Internet social networking sites like Facebook, MySpace and TAGGED, where she made contact with a person claiming to be a 15-year-old bi-sexual girl named “Missy.”

“Missy” requested that the girl meet a 17-year-old football player from Kentucky named “Bobby Baker,” whom she later added to her TAGGED account as a friend and exchanged e-mails with. “Bobby Baker,” later identified as Ernest Baker, gave the girl his phone number and requested to meet up with her in Bluffton, Ohio, located on Interstate 75 north of Lima, Ohio, on Dec. 11. The girl agreed, the affidavit states.

Victim forced

When “Bobby Baker” picked up the girl around midnight in downtown Bluffton, he was wearing a black ski mask and made her wear earmuffs over her eyes, the girl told police. They went to a nearby motel, where Baker allowed her to see him, but they did not have sex that night.

The two met up again at a Bluffton motel on Jan. 5 and had unprotected sex. Baker forced her to perform oral sex against her will, the affidavit states. They met again on Jan. 20 and had sex again, with Baker recording the act on a video camera and taking nude pictures of KG with his cell phone camera.

On Feb. 19, “Bobby Baker” again traveled to Bluffton, this time with his son, “Bobby Jr.” in tow. KG told police the two men forced her to drink an alcoholic cocktail and perform sex acts with both of them against her will. The girl walked home the next morning and decided not to continue her relationship with either of the Bakers.

On the morning of Feb. 22, after Ernest Baker had been picked up by Nicholasville police for violating the EPO, the girl called Baker’s cell phone to tell him she was breaking off the relationship. When an officer answered, she hung up but later texted a message to the phone indicating she wanted to talk to police, the affidavit states.

Police then gathered evidence about the relationship from the girls’ home computer and her cell phone, along with Ernest Baker’s cell phone and laptop, which they confiscated during his arrest. Baker said the images on his phone were of an adult female and denied having contact with any underage girls, the affidavit states. He later told police that any inappropriate pictures on his phone were taken by his son.

Later that day, the girl identified “Bobby Jr.” out of a photo lineup, and FBI agents in Ohio verified his identity as Robert Baker. Robert Baker was in the motel when nude pictures were taken of KG using a cell phone and digital camera, according to the affidavit.

Admits having sex

Police initially tracked Robert Baker to a trailer at 196 Ky. 198 in Yosemite in Casey County but later learned from a friend of Ernest Baker that Robert Baker was staying with his uncle in Lincoln County.

A federal search warrant was obtained for the Lincoln County residence, and it was executed on the morning of Feb. 26. Several cell phones were confiscated, including one owned by Robert Baker’s uncle that showed calls made to the area code where the girl lives.

According to the affidavit, when Trotman asked Robert Baker if he knew why FBI agents raided the house, he said it was about “the girl.” He admitted to traveling with his father to Ohio but denied having sex with her.

When confronted with evidence police had gathered, “(Robert) Baker’s face turned red, he placed his face in his hands and admitted to having sex with the girl,” Trotman states.

Editor's note: Todd Kleffman is a staff writer for The Danville Advocate-Messenger, a sister paper to The Jessamine Journal.

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