Second Scott County officer charged with having sexual relations with prisoners

BENTON, Mo. -- A second corrections officer was charged Monday with having sexual relations with two female prisoners in the Scott County Jail.

Ronald A. Baker, 41, of Sikeston, Mo., faces charges of sexual misconduct and sexual contact with a prisoner, incidents discovered through the course of an investigation into allegations made against former corrections officer Michael Proctor, according to a probable-cause statement by Lt. Jerry Bledsoe.

A Cape Girardeau lawyer is representing the three women in a planned lawsuit against the county.

Proctor was arrested last week and charged with having sexual contact with a prisoner after Bledsoe reviewed a surveillance tape that showed him leading an inmate to the property room, which was off-limits to prisoners, according to court documents.

Scott County Sheriff Rick Walter said Monday he'd ordered the review of the surveillance tapes when he began hearing rumors that something had happened at the jail.

The sexual contact with a prisoner occurred Sept. 9, according to the sworn statement. Baker was seen on camera escorting an inmate into the property room and exiting about 11 minutes later. In an interview with investigators, the victim said she thought they were going into the property room to get her socks and told Baker they "should not be doing this" when he initiated sexual contact, the statement said.

The sexual misconduct incident occurred Sept. 8, according to a separate probable-cause statement by Bledsoe. In that case, Baker allegedly told an inmate he would put her in protective custody because she was having an altercation with another prisoner, and took her into the property room for the purpose of getting her things so she could be moved to another area. She later told deputies that once inside the room, Baker began to kiss her and put his hands on her over her clothing. Then she heard another jailer tell him that someone was coming, the statement said.

Though none of the women reported physical coercion, under Missouri law they were victimized because they were not in a position to give consent.

"You can't have consent when you're wearing chains and the person with the key to the chains is taking you out of your cell and having sex with you," said lawyer Pat McMenamin, who is representing the women in the lawsuit against the county.

McMenamin said he believed the problem may be "systemic" and not isolated incidents.

Walter said he believed Baker and Proctor were the only two participants and that it appeared that Baker and Proctor had conspired together because the activity took place when their supervisor was not on duty.

Reviews of the surveillance video did not show any other jailers taking inmates in or out of the property room, Walter said.

bdicosmo@semissourian.com

388-3635