A former police officer who worked for both the Carthage
and Robbins departments pleaded guilty to numerous felonies Thursday in
Superior Court.
Travis Lee Baker, 32, of Pinehurst, was charged with two
counts of sexual battery and one count each of crime against nature,
second-degree rape and second-degree sexual assault and obstruction of justice.
He also faced multiple charges of identity theft, access to government
computers without permission, and felony obstruction of justice.
Under a plea arrangement worked out with Assistant
District Attorney Peter Strickland, some charges were dropped and others
consolidated for sentencing.
Baker was sentenced to 10 to 12 months on all the
identity and access charges, consolidated for sentencing, and four to five
months on the sexual battery charge and one of two obstruction of justice
counts. A second obstruction of justice count resulted in additional time in
prison, according to Strickland.
“He will serve from 18 months minimum to 22 months
maximum on all counts,” Strickland said after court.
Senior Resident Superior Court Judge James M. Webb gave
Baker the benefit of some mitigation based on his honorable discharge from
military service, for continuing to support his family, having active support
in the community and for cooperating fully with the State Bureau of
Investigation on the investigation.
Baker had served as a police officer with the Carthage
Police Department before going to work for the Robbins Police Department, from
which he was fired when charges came to light.
Carthage Chief Bart Davis said the former police officer
was not employed with his department when he committed wrongdoings. According
to the SBI’s Noelle Talley, the incident that led to the sexual battery charge
happened Aug. 16, 2011, when Baker was a Robbins officer.
The other incidents were alleged to have taken place in
March 2011 — after he left Carthage and before he was hired in Robbins. They
were being investigated at the time Baker took the Robbins job, but that
department was not made aware of the investigation.
“The SBI investigation had been going on prior to April
before he came to Robbins,” former Town Manager George Hayfield said at the
time. “Had we known that about it then, he wouldn’t have been hired.”
Robbins placed Baker on administrative leave once the
investigation came to light and fired him after he was indicted in December.
“After Baker left the Carthage Police Department, he used
government computers to find out information about his girlfriend’s ex,”
Strickland told the court as he summarized evidence to support the plea. “It
was used in a custody hearing, and he used the ID of another officer to do
that.”
When Baker stopped a woman in August 2011 he told her he
would not write her a ticket if she had sex with him, which she did, Strickland
said. That led to charges of second-degree rape and crime against nature, which
were dropped as part of Baker’s guilty plea to sexual battery.
Baker, who had been out on bail, surrendered following
his plea and was in the Moore County jail on a temporary hold pending arrival
sentencing documents from the court. He was represented by Brett Yauger, a
Carthage attorney.