Cameron Joseph Baca, an intramural sports coach convicted of molesting three boys, ages 11 to 13, and
for being in possession of more than 2,000 explicit pornographic images and
videos of children, was sentenced today to 51 years
to life in state prison.
“I trusted you! I loved you
like my own children. But you sir are incapable of knowing what love
truly is. Instead you were a predator and we were your prey,” the mother of one of the San Clemente 29-year-old's victims said during the sentencing hearing.
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Baca had befriended the woman's family and earned their trust before doing his dirty deeds.
The Orange County District Attorney's Office statement on the case follows:
November 19, 2010
INTRAMURAL COACH SENTENCED TO 51 YEARS TO LIFE IN PRISON FOR MOLESTING
THREE BOYS, AGES 11 TO 13, AND POSSESSING THOUSANDS OF IMAGES OF GRAPHIC
CHILD PORNOGRAPHY
SANTA ANA – An intramural sports coach was sentenced today to 51 years
to life in state prison for molesting three boys, ages 11 to 13, after
befriending their families and spending time alone with the victims, and
for being in possession of over 2,000 explicit pornographic images and
videos of children. Cameron Joseph Baca, 29, San Clemente, was found
guilty by a jury Aug. 5, 2010, of nine felony counts of lewd acts on a
child under 14, four felony counts of distribution of pornography to a
minor, one felony count of attempted lewd acts on a child under 14, and
one felony count of possession of child pornography.
Between Jan. 2, 2006, and Dec. 18, 2008, Baca molested three boys
between the ages of 11 and 13 years old. The defendant met the victims
while working as their intramural sports coach for football, lacrosse,
and basketball in South Orange County. Baca befriended the families of
the victims and groomed the boys by spending time with them, attending
their sporting events that he was not coaching, buying them baseball
cards, and inviting them to his home for meals and to do various work
around the house.
Baca sexually assaulted the three victims including touching their
penises and buttocks and engaging in oral copulation. The defendant also
showed the victims pornography.
In December 2008, John Doe #1 disclosed the sexual assault against him
to his family. Investigation by the Orange County Sheriff's Department
revealed that Baca also had two additional victims. In a subsequent
search of Baca's home, the defendant was found to be in possession of
over 2,000 pornographic images of young children being raped and
sodomized. He was also in possession on his computer of over 500 child
pornography videos and more than 50 written stories describing adult
men, including coaches and babysitters, having sex with young boys.
A mother of one of the victims submitted a victim impact statement to be
read at Baca's sentencing today. She wrote, “I trusted you! I loved you
like my own children. But you sir are incapable of knowing what love
truly is. Instead you were a predator and we were your prey.”
Deputy District Attorney Heather Brown of the Sexual Assault Unit prosecuted this case.
OC Weekly Editor-in-Chief Matt Coker has been engaging, enraging and entertaining readers of newspapers, magazines and websites for decades. He spent the first 13 years of his career in journalism at daily newspapers before “graduating” to OC Weekly in 1995 as the alternative newsweekly’s first calendar editor.