Brendan Baia, a 19-year-old former student at Central Michigan University, is facing criminal charges for allegedly exchanging sexual text messages with a 12-year-old girl. Court documents reveal that all of the alleged text exchanges took place in August of this year.
According to police records, the interactions were initially discovered by the girl’s mother. She contacted police when she found texts on her daughter’s phone that were sexual in nature, including nude pictures. The mother later told police that her daughter had seemed depressed lately, and that she had searched her daughter’s phone in an effort to discover why.
Police were able to conduct a forensic extraction of the cell phone’s data history, which included all messages sent and received. This was how they discovered the 122 Snapchats that Baia and the young girl had exchanged over the course of several weeks. Later, the young girl admitted to her mother that she had sent nude pictures of herself to Baia, and had received some from him as well. She had not, however, ever met him in person.
Police also say that the messages from Baia to the girl include very specific sexual references. In one of the messages he allegedly asked her when she could come to his room at Kessler Hall at Central Michigan University in Isabella County, MI. Police documents reveal that during the message exchanges the girl called Baia “daddy” and he called her “little girl.”
Angry, the mother texted Baia using her daughter’s Snapchat account, to tell him that she had found his messages, and that she was upset. He responded by saying that he had thought her daughter was 15, about to turn 16, and that he was “overwhelmingly regretful and sorry that you had to see your daughter have an inappropriate relationship with an adult.”
When the mother answered back and told him that he was lying, he answered by saying that he “can’t explain how much I regret this.” He also told her that he didn’t “want to have anything to do with anyone young anymore.” During this same conversation the mother accused Baia of preying on other girls besides her daughter. He answered back saying, “Now I’m petrified to think about the things I thought were pleasurable before and that’s how it should be.”
Baia was arrested and detained in the Isabella County Jail in Mt. Pleasant, MI until he was granted bail, which he has since posted. Police executed a search warrant on Baia’s home address, seizing his cell phone and computer, along with a number of other unnamed items. Baia appeared in the Isabella County District Court for his arraignment, followed by his scheduling conference, which took place in Trial Judge Mark Duthie’s courtroom in Mount Pleasant.
The sex crime charges against Baia include single counts of Accosting a Minor for Immoral Purposes, Possessing Child Sexually Abusive Material, Distributing Child Sexually Abusive Material, and three counts of Use of a Computer to Commit a crime. In legal terms, ‘child sexualy abusive material’ refers to child pornography, which is also sometimes called kiddie porn. If convicted on all counts, Baia could be looking at decades behind bars and registration on Michigan’s Sex Offender Registry.
Attorneys at The Kronzek Firm have handled sex crimes defense for nearly a quarter of a century. We are available 24 /7 for immediate assistance by calling 1 866-766-5245. You can read more at www.SexCrimeAttorneys.com