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I got a story for you. So, in the late 90s, Eureka Police Officer Kent Baker is assigned to investigate rumors involving
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two other members of the force. You see, word had begun to spread within the Missouri Police Department that these
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other cops were having inappropriate relationships with this 15-year-old girl who was in the department's Explorer
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program. So, 39-year-old Baker investigates these claims. He basically goes back to his supervisors and reports
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like, "Oh, there's nothing to these claims. Nothing to see here." But instead, it appears that the 14-year
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veteran started his own relationship with the girl, mostly during ride-alongs after his investigation. It would be
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several months before Baker and the two other cops would be charged with statutory sodomy for repeated sexual
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encounters with the girl. Now, a jury found Baker guilty on eight of the nine charges. He only got a couple of years
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in prison. One of the other guys plead guilty to four counts of the same charge. He got probation and 90 days in
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jail. And the third cop pleaded guilty to one count of the same charge and just got probation. Eureka suspended ride
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alongs altogether. Now, this is just one of the instances of abuse that my team and I found while digging into the
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police explorer sex abuse scandal. You can listen to the rest of what we uncovered wherever you listen to Crime
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Junkie.