A Cabool man entered a guilty plea Monday in U.S. District Court in Springfield, said U.S. Attorney Tammy Dickinson.
Scott Dwayne Baker, 45, of Cabool, pleaded guilty to enticing a 14-year-old girl to engage in illicit sex, said Dickenson, who noted the charge was contained in a Feb. 28 indictment.
By pleading guilty, Baker admitted that he sent a series of sexually suggestive texts, including a sexually graphic photo, to the cell phone of a 14-year-old victim. The victim had received numerous text messages of a sexual nature from Baker. On Feb. 2 a Missouri State Highway Patrol trooper assumed the victim’s identity and began communicating with Baker via cell phone text messages.
On Feb. 3 the undercover officer continued a lengthy text message conversation with Baker during the Super Bowl. After sending sexually explicit messages and a pornographic image of himself to the victim’s cell phone, Baker began making arrangements to meet with the victim. Baker believed the victim would skip school and be at home alone on the following day, Feb. 4, 2013. Baker was asked to bring a Dr. Pepper and a candy bar for the child victim.
When he arrived at the victim’s home at about noon, bringing the Dr. Pepper and candy bar, he was arrested by officers of the Missouri State Highway Patrol.
Under federal statutes, Baker is subject to a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years in federal prison without parole, up to a sentence of life in federal prison without parole, plus a fine up to $250,000. A sentencing hearing will be scheduled after the completion of a presentence investigation by the U.S. Probation Office.