American man convicted of child rape sentenced to at least 20 years in prison

 Jackson C. Baker, 55, was found guilty of one felony count each of child rape, involuntary deviate sexual intercourse with a  Toddler, unlawful contact with a minor and corruption of a minor.

By Edward Era Barbacena

A State College white man convicted of raping a child and pressuring a witness to recant the allegations was sentenced Tuesday to at least 20 years in state prison.

Jackson C. Baker, 55, was sentenced by Senior Judge Pamela A. Ruest to a maximum of 40 years in prison. He received credit for about five months served in the Centre County Correctional Facility.

Baker declined comment before his sentence was handed down. Centre County Deputy District Attorney Megan McGoron described his actions as some of the “most heinous” she’s seen in her career.

A relative of the child painted Baker through a written statement as a “threat to innocent children” and the “kindhearted and empathetic people of the community.”

“Spending countless years posing under the facade of a pastor and children’s minister is sickening to say the least,” the woman wrote. “I am here today to be the voice of justice for the individuals affected by the darkness that enclosed them in the box of trauma they did not — and do not — deserve.”

Baker was convicted in September of raping a toddler in 2019. A jury of eight men and four women found him guilty of all charges after a two-day trial.

Central to the case was the testimony of Brandon Magusiak, who said he saw Baker forcing the child to perform oral sex. Magusiak, McGoron said, “saved this child from further being abused.”

Baker, borough police wrote in an affidavit of probable cause, contacted a witness in January 2021 and “intimidated her in an attempt to change her testimony.” The conversation lasted for more than three hours; she told investigators she felt “trapped.”

Baker did not testify. He was also sentenced to three years of probation.

“Today is about bringing a beginning to an end, and an end to what should have never begun,” the child’s relative wrote. “To put a stop to one more evil entity, and bring closure to those who have suffered.”