O’FALLON, Mo. (AP) – A former Cub Scout leader now faces felony witness tampering charges after police say he tried to arrange from jail to have someone attack two of the children he’s accused of molesting to keep them from testifying against him.
Matthew Baker, 50, of O’Fallon, has been charged with two counts each of tampering with a witness in a felony prosecution and two counts of tampering or attempting to tamper with a victim, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported. Those charges are in addition to 10 sex crime charges involving other children.
Court documents say Baker told a cellmate that he had asked another inmate to have someone outside the jail harm two children, ages 9 and 10, who accused Baker of molesting them. Baker told his cellmate he intended to prevent the children from testifying against him in court, officials said.
Baker also asked an inmate to send a letter he had written to the parents of a 10-year-old whom Baker is accused of abusing, police said, asking them to have their child tell police that he had not assaulted the child. Baker wrote that he was sorry for “the pain inflicted to your child and all the others” and asked if he and the family could “still be friends,” court documents say.
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