Maryland Man Whose Family Operated Home Day Care Gets 17 Years for Child Pornography

A Maryland man whose family operated a home day care was sentenced to 17 years in prison for producing child pornography.

In July 2015, FBI agents interviewed 41-year-old Steven Edward Baker at his Vienna, Virginia, business, Action Signs, and he admitted having child pornography on his work and home computers and that he had been downloading child pornography for 10 years, according to his plea agreement. 

Investigators found 45 images and seven videos of a girl under the age of 12 at Baker's home and workplace, according to the U.S. attorney's office. Baker produced the images and video from January 2008 to July 2013 at a park and at what appears to be his home.

An additional 50,000 images and 1,000 videos downloaded from the internet were found.

Maryland state records show Baker listed as a “family member” on a registration for a child care facility in Kensington from 2008 to 2012. The state records show the listed owner of the child care was Diane Baker, who is referenced as Baker’s wife in an FBI affidavit, the News4 I-Team previously reported. The affidavit specifies there were suspicious on-line postings by Baker as early as 2011.

The day care no longer operates.

The FBI tracked Baker by connecting online postings to an IP address belonging to Action Signs, according to the FBI affidavit. When investigators at the store asked him if he knew why they were there, "Baker stated, ‘I have child porn on my computers,’ and, ‘I have been waiting for someone to come,’” the affidavit said.

The affidavit said, “Baker stated, ‘I’m actually downloading a file right now. Do you want to see? Come on I’ll show you.'”

According to the FBI affidavit, agents found the suspicious on-line porn postings were made by a person who used the username “SIGNMAN.”

After serving his prison sentence, Baker will have to register as a sex offender anywhere he lives or works and will be on supervised release for the rest of his life.

Contact Us