A 72-year-old Laguna Niguel spa owner has been arrested for the alleged sexual assault of a woman with what he'd billed as his “soon-to-be-patented” cosmetic “Micro Current” device designed to reduce age lines, cellulite and promote weight loss, according to the sheriff's department.
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Investigators believe there may be other victims because, they say, Raymond Newton Baker, who also resides in Laguna Niguel with his wife, told them 18 other females participated in his training with the wand-like device but failed for various reasons, according to Lt. Jeff Hallock, the Orange County sheriff's spokesman.
The sheriff's Special Victims Unit launched an investigation in early February after a 29-year-old woman told deputies that Baker sexually assaulted her several times over a three-month period. She met Baker after answering a Craigslist job advertisement for a second spa he said he was opening in Fashion Island, relates Hallock, who adds Baker paid the trainee for her time.
Baker owns Beautiful Image LLC at 30012 Ivy Glenn, Suite 220, Laguna Niguel. After his second spa opened in Newport Beach, the business name changed to Bio Nova LLC, according to Hallock.
Arrested Thursday after a three-week investigation, Baker was booked into Orange County Jail on suspicion of penetration with a foreign object and sexual battery. He posted $50,000 bail and has a court appearance pending the filing of charges by the Orange County District Attorney's office.
Meanwhile, the investigation continues, and anyone who believes they were a victim or who has additional information is asked to call Orange County Sheriff's Special Victims Unit Sgt. Wade Walsvick at 714.647.7418 or 714.647.7000. Anonymous tips may be left with Orange County Crime Stoppers at 855.847.6227 (855-TIP-OCCS), via occrimestoppers.org or by texting to 274637 (C-R-I-M-E-S) from a cell phone. (All text messages should begin with the letters “OCCS”.)
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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.