Former Sacramento cop arraigned in sex assaults

A former Sacramento police officer stood tall and silent during a brief court appearance, entering and leaving the courtroom without saying a word Friday about the rape charges that put him in front of the judge.

Gary Dale Baker, 49, a Sacramento police force veteran until his abrupt termination amid the investigation into his alleged sexual assaults of a woman in her 70s, deferred comment to his defense attorney, Linda Parisi.

"We need an opportunity to review the police reports, and we look forward to our participation in the process in order to clear Officer Baker's name," Parisi told reporters after her client's brief arraignment in front of Sacramento Superior Court Judge Kevin J. McCormick.

"We'll have more comment when we see what the allegations are against Officer Baker," Parisi added.

Baker came to court wearing a dark suit and a tie. He is free on $1 million bail.

The district attorney's complaint filed Dec. 20 accuses Baker of raping, sexually battering and forcing the woman to give him oral sex on Nov. 24, 2010. Two more counts charged him with forced oral sex and assault with intent to commit rape on Sept. 20 this year. The sixth count says he again tried to force the woman into oral sex on Dec. 11.

During an arraignment that took less than two minutes, Deputy District Attorney Amy Holliday had a protective order served to Baker. It maintains that he must stay at least 100 yards away from the alleged victim. It also ordered him to have no telephone contact with her and that he not try to reach her through any third parties.

According to court records on Baker's recent divorce, he has two sons who are ages 21 and 19. He also is a retired member of the Air Force Reserves. A 22-year member of the Sacramento Police Department, Baker was earning about $80,000 a year when Chief Rick Braziel fired him last week.

Baker and his wife separated Aug. 11, 2008, the day before she filed for divorce. The dissolution was finalized on Aug. 27, 2010.

An arrest warrant affidavit in the case said the alleged victim's daughter-in-law reported the Nov. 24, 2010, sexual assault to police the day after it happened. The affidavit said the woman was 75 at the time of the report and that she had suffered a stroke a year earlier and had been diagnosed with aphasia, a language disorder related to brain damage.

According to the affidavit, the woman told police she had spoken to a man in a police or sheriff's vehicle in her driveway earlier in the day and that he returned to her south Sacramento residence later in the afternoon. She said she recognized him when he knocked on the door and that she said "Hi," when he forced his way in, began kissing her and then sexually attacked her, the affidavit said.

Investigators retrieved DNA from the woman's black nylons that later matched up to Baker's genetic profile, according to the affidavit.

After the Sept. 20 attack, the woman went to the hospital for an examination that confirmed physical trauma, the affidavit said.

On Dec. 17, the woman's son installed a video camera in front of her residence, the affidavit said. The next day, his mother called him to say the same purported assailant "had returned." A police detective who saw the pictures identified Baker.

Detectives called Baker in for an interview on Dec. 19.

"During the interview, Baker admitted knowing the victim, but he denied ever having any sexual contact with her," the affidavit said. It was then that Baker provided the DNA sample that matched the material from the Nov. 24, 2010, incident, according to the affidavit.

• Read more articles by Andy Furillo

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