Three years for 1970s sex abuser

Monday 23 June 2014

A respected painter and decorator who indecently assaulted a young girl around 40 years ago was sent to prison for three years by the Royal Court on Friday.

John Eric Baker (76) was found guilty at his trial in April of four counts of indecent assault and a further two charges of procuring an act of gross indecency with a minor. The offences, which took place at a property in St Helier in roughly 1974 were all carried out against the same victim, who was six or seven years of age at the time.

Crown Advocate Julian Gollop reminded the court that Baker had denied all the allegations against him and that he was “a man who has shown no remorse for his actions” despite the lasting effect the offending had had on the victim’s wellbeing. He also sought an order for Baker to pay for the prosecution’s costs.

The Crown had sought a total jail sentence of four and a half years - three years for the indecent assaults and an additional 18 months for the two remaining charges - but defence Advocate David Cadin argued the offences were at “the very lower end of the spectrum” and suggested that the court consider imposing a lengthy period of community service as a substitute to prison.

“These were not premeditated assaults, they were not the product of grooming and there were no inducement, threats or force,” said Advocate Cadin. Furthermore, they were “not only of short duration, but very limited repetition”, he added. 

Sentencing Baker, who was in his mid-30s when the offences were committed, Royal Court Commissioner Julian Clyde-Smith described the offences as “serious” as they were committed against “a young vulnerable child in circumstances of an extreme breach of trust” and that he had put his victim through the ordeal of a trial and cross-examination. 

Baker was sentenced to three years in prison for each of four indecent assaults, and for a period of 18 months for the other two charges, with all sentences to run concurrently. He was also put on the sex offender's register for a minimum of five years. The matter of costs was left over to another date.