Chicago — A man who worked as a waiter at Navy Pier until he was arrested in 2018 for raping a 15-year-old on the Northwest Side has been sentenced to six years. But because Laroyae Baker earned 1,569 days of credit at Cook County jail, he will be released in October.
Baker was staying at an acquaintance’s home in Jefferson Park when he allegedly entered the 15-year-old girl’s bedroom and removed his pants on September 30, 2018, the day after his 31st birthday.
He told the girl that he wanted a “birthday gift,” and her out of her bed and onto the floor, authorities said. He removed her pants, covered her mouth, and sexually assaulted her, according to a Chicago police report. When the girl cried, he allegedly put his hand on her throat and assaulted her a second time.
The man who invited Baker to stay in the home that night interrupted the second sexual assault and threw Baker out of the house, officials said. Chicago police arrested him a couple of weeks later at Navy Pier.
On January 23, Baker pleaded guilty to criminal sexual assault causing bodily harm, the most serious charge he faced. Prosecutors dropped six other felonies in their plea deal.
Judge Laura Ayala-Gonzalez sentenced Baker and ordered him to register as a sex offender for life, according to court records. She also ordered him to submit a DNA sample for indexing by law enforcement.
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