Ex-policeman Who Raped 75-year-old Stroke Victim Multiple Times, Sentenced

 

Gary Dale Baker, 52, a former Sacramento police officer has been convicted of raping a 75-year-old stroke victim in her senior living apartment and will spend the rest of his life in prison. 

 

On Tuesday, Baker was sentenced to 62 years to life, a spokeswoman for Sacramento County District Attorney Anne Marie Schubert said after it was proved that he entered the woman's apartment at least three times from 2010 to 2012, raping her twice as she suffered from a stroke-related inability to speak. 

 

He had been convicted in July of nine charges relating to the case, including rape, forcible oral copulation, sexual battery and burglary. 

 

 

The woman, now 77, was recovering from a stroke in a senior living complex in South Sacramento when the attacks began, prosecutors said.

 

She struggled to communicate to her family what had happened, and initially, even though DNA evidence confirmed the rape, investigators were not able to link it to any known suspects, prosecutors said.

 

But in late 2012, after Baker attempted a third assault, a Sacramento police detective suggested that the woman's family install a motion-activated camera. When Baker came back again, police officers reviewing the footage immediately recognized him. Baker, who was then an active officer on the Sacramento police force, was arrested and fired from the department.

 

“You tarnished the badge for police officers everywhere," Sacramento Superior Court Judge