New molest case against ex-LA priest

LOS ANGELES - Adefrocked priest already facing child molestation charges was accusedWednesday of sodomizing a second boy who was a parishioner in the LosAngeles Roman Catholic Archdiocese in the 1990s.

Michael Stephen Baker, 59, is accused of having sex with a boy fromMarch 1996 to September 1998, beginning when the youth was 15,according to an amended felony complaint.

Prosecutors contend that during a discussion in the rectory, Bakergave the boy a ring with a red stone emblazoned with a cross "as asymbol of their special friendship," then pricked and joined theirbleeding fingers, telling the boy "that they were joined for life,"according to a court document.

A few minutes later, Baker fondled the boy, prosecutors contend.

Prosecutors also say Baker gave the boy a cup of hot chocolate and sodomized him after he fell asleep.

The boy, now in his 20s, did not come forward to make theaccusations, which were discovered during an investigation, said JaneRobison, a spokeswoman for the district attorney's office. His name waswithheld.

Baker was scheduled to be arraigned Thursday on the new charges,which include one count of oral copulation of a person under 18, onecount of sexual penetration of an unconscious person with a foreignobject and three counts of sodomy of a person under 18.

A call to Baker's attorney seeking comment was not returned.

Baker already has pleaded not guilty to eight acts of oralcopulation involving a boy over a period ending in 1995 while thepriest was living at a Pico Rivera rectory. Prosecutors contend hemolested the boy for more than a decade, beginning at age 7. Thecharges carry a possible sentence of 19 years in state prison.

Baker's case is the latest involving allegations of clergy abusethat have tarnished the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, the nation'slargest. On Dec. 1, the archdiocese said it would pay $60 million tosettle 45 lawsuits by people who claimed they were abused by priests,but as many as 485 suits are still pending.

On Wednesday in Florida, a man who says a former Roman Catholicpriest sexually abused him as a teenager sued the Archdiocese of Miamifor at least $25 million, raising the number of lawsuits involvingFather Neil Doherty to at least six.

The archdiocese said on its Web site that it was not aware of thisnewest charge "until after it was reported in the media." The statementsaid, "If the allegation is true, a great sin has been committed; suchbehavior is never acceptable for any member of the church."

Doherty's attorney, David Bogenschutz, did not return calls Wednesday.