District Attorney General Pickens Announces Sentencing of Former Employee of
the Tennessee Department of Children’s Services
On August 26, 2024, Judge Joseph Howell sentenced Christopher Kenn Baker to two (2)
years without parole to serve in the Tennessee Department of Correction after pleading guilty to
Solicitation of a Minor for Aggravated Statutory Rape. In addition to receiving the maximum
sentence allowed by law in Tennessee for this offense, Baker was also ordered to comply with the
requirements of the Sex Offender Registry. Baker was an employee of the Tennessee Department
of Children’s Services at the time of the incident giving rise to the prosecution.
The case began on March 2, 2023, when the defendant Baker left a note on the car
windshield of a 16-year-old female at Walmart in Bolivar, Tennessee. In the note, the defendant
propositioned the underaged female. The note was turned over to the Bolivar Police Department,
who in turn contacted Sergeant Aubrey Richardson of the Jackson Police Department. Sergeant
Richardson, a member of the Internet Crimes against Children Task Force, then posed as the 16-
year-old female to carry on a conversation via text messages with the defendant. Ultimately, on
March 7, 2023, the defendant arranged to meet at Malesus Park with the intention of having sex
with the person he believed to be the 16-year-old female. When the defendant arrived, he was
arrested by the Jackson Police Department. After further investigation, a Madison County grand
jury indicted the defendant on August 28, 2023, on charges of Solicitation of a Minor for
Aggravated Statutory Rape.
District Attorney General Jody Pickens stated. “This case should serve as a deterrent to
adults who solicit minors for sex. The person they are talking with online could be a law
enforcement officer working to investigate those individuals who prey upon our young people. We
will vigorously prosecute any case involving a minor victim of sex offenses, especially if the
defendant charged, is one entrusted with the protection of children. | am very proud of the work
that Assistant District Attorney General Lee R. Sparks and Sergeant Aubrey Richardson did in this
case. Working together they were able to expose someone who should have been protecting
children instead of preying upon them.”
