O'FALLON, Mo. _ An O'Fallon man and former Cub Scout leader faces new charges of witness tampering after police say he tried to silence children he is accused of sexually abusing.
While in the St. Charles County Jail facing charges of sex abuse involving children, Matthew C. Baker, 50, told his cellmate earlier this year that he had asked another inmate to have someone outside the jail harm two children, ages 9 and 10, who were victims in a pending child molestation case against Baker, according to a probable cause statement from O'Fallon police.
Baker told his cellmate he intended to prevent the children from testifying against him in court, the document says.
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, the statement says. In the letter, Baker asked the parents 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," according to court documents.
In addition to six sex crime charges, which include four victims in St. Charles County and one in St. Louis County, Baker now faces two felony charges of tampering with a witness in a felony prosecution and two counts of tampering or attempting to tamper with a victim.
