FORMER BOY SCOUT LEADER AND CONVICTED CHILD MOLESTER SENTENCED FOR POSSESSING CHILD PORNOGRAPHY

BUFFALO, N.Y.--WILLIAM BAKER, 65, of Blasdell and Lackawanna, New York, who was convicted of Possession of Child Pornography on October 3, 2008, was sentenced to 121 months in prison by Chief U.S. District Judge Richard J. Arcara, U.S. Attorney Terrance P. Flynn of the Western District of New York announced today.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Marie P. Grisanti, who handled the case, credited a computer repairman for notifying the Lackawanna Police Department after he saw child pornography on Baker's computer. Baker was previously convicted of two counts of Sodomy in the Second Degree in 1988 in Erie County for conduct relating to sexual conduct with a minor. Baker had been a boy scout leader for approximately 30 years until his conviction in 1988. Grisanti said that Baker has admitted to molesting 8 to 48 children.

The plea was the culmination of an investigation on the part of Special Agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, under the direction of Laurie Bennett and officers of the Lackawanna Police Department under the direction of Chief Dennis O'Hara.