Convicted Sex Offender, Who Was Arrested In Oklahoma, Admits Failing To Register As A Sex Offender

LUBBOCK, Texas— Glenn Wayne Baker, 60, formerly of Taylor County, Texas, appeared this morning in federal court, before U.S. District Judge Sam R. Cummings, and pleaded guilty to an indictment charging failure to register and update registration as a sex offender.  He faces a maximum statutory penalty of 10 years in federal prison and a $250,000 fine.  Judge Cummings ordered a presentence investigation report with a sentencing date to be set after the completion of that report.  Today’s announcement was made by U.S. Attorney Sarah R. Saldaña of the Northern District of Texas.

According to documents filed in the case, in August 1981, Baker was convicted by a jury of the felony offense of aggravated rape, in the District Court of Taylor County, Texas.  Based on this conviction, he was a sex offender under the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act (SORNA), and was required to register as a sex offender for life under state and federal law.  On January 11, 2013, Baker registered as a sex offender, listing his address in Tye, Taylor County, Texas, and acknowledging his duty to register as a sex offender for life. 

Beginning in January 2013, Baker lived with his sister in Tye after being paroled on his Texas aggravated rape conviction, and was registered as a sex offender while living there.  On July 29, 2013, Baker cut off his electronic monitor and left his residence in Tye, and he did not provide any notice, before or after he left, to any authorities.  He then traveled to Enid, Oklahoma, and moved in with his wife, who he had married several years earlier while he was in prison.  He told her that he had been given permission by Texas authorities to move to Oklahoma.  Baker lived in Enid, Oklahoma, from approximately August 1, 2013, until he was arrested in mid-August 2013. 

The case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative, which was launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice, to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse.  Led by U.S. Attorney’s Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals, who sexually exploit children, and identify and rescue victims.  For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit http://www.justice.gov/psc/.  For more information about internet safety education, please visit http://www.justice.gov/psc/ and click on the tab “resources.”

The investigation was conducted by the U.S. Marshals Service.  Assistant U.S. Attorney Steven M. Sucsy is in charge of the prosecution.