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Case Overview: People of the State of Illinois v. Dexter C. Baker

Now terminated LaSalle County Sheriff’s Deputy Dexter C. Baker of Ottawa and DePue, 28, currently charged with 10 Child Pornography related Felonies, facing over 250 years in prison if found guilty of all charges.

Updated 11-15-2025

The Incident and Initial Investigation:

Due to the nature of the offenses and the accused’s background of having been a Sheriff’s Deputy, not much is publicly known about the investigation. It was first made public via his arrest and subsequent appearance on the jail roster, where people put two and two together. No public statements or press releases have been made about this by the LaSalle County Sheriff’s Department, the accused’s former employer.

It is known that an investigation was launched on June 4th 2025, against Baker after a ‘cybertip’ was given to Law Enforcement indicating a social messaging app had reported a user for child pornography. That user turned out to be Deputy Baker. Search warrants were obtained and later executed. After Baker was revealed as the suspect, he was fired from the LaSalle County Sheriff’s Office.

Charges and Potential Penalties:

Charges:

• 8 separate counts of Child Porn/Reproduce/Mov. Explained as follows under Statute: ‘Under Illinois statute 720 ILCS 5/11-20.1(a)(2), a person commits the offense of child pornography by knowingly reproducing, disseminating, or possessing with the intent to disseminate, any form of child pornography. The law applies to visual depictions of a person under the age of 18, or a person with a severe intellectual disability, engaged in sexual conduct.’ Each of these charges has a possible sentence of 6 to 30 years with no chance of probation.
• 2 separate counts of Child Porn/Poss/Moving. Explained as follows under Statue: ‘The law states that a person commits child pornography if they, with knowledge of its content, possess any film, videotape, photograph, or other visual depiction by computer of: a child under the age of 18 or a person with a severe or profound intellectual disability.’ Each of these charges has a possible sentence of 3 to 7 years.

If found guilty, all prison sentences would have to be served back to back, consecutively, for a total of 254 years.

Key Proceedings and Legal Developments:

Given Baker’s background and the nature of the charges, a pre-trial release was denied after Assistant Attorney General Katherine Hegarty urged the court. During the pre-trial release hearing, a couple of case details came to light, including that Baker shared “multiple video files” and that “uploads .. occurred at the ( Ottawa ) YMCA and the LaSalle County Government Complex” which could be both the Courthouse itself or even the Jail, meaning he did said uploads while working in his capacity as a Deputy Sheriff. Despicable.

Baker’s Defense Attorney, Michelle McClellan, argued that her client has no criminal history, has a ‘distinguished record of community service’ and had supposedly voluntarily entered an unspecified treatment for his ‘personal issues’.

During her ruling to deny a pre-trial release, Judge Vescogni pointed out that at least one of the criminal offenses Baker is now charged with occurred AFTER Police had executed a search warrant at his residence, meaning he knew the gig was up and he was under investigation, but still could not help himself. He acted illegally knowing he was under investigation. Vescogni stated “I don’t see how the Defendant isn’t a real and present danger to the community“

As Baker is a well known member of the community, and former LaSalle County employee, it could create potential conflicts of interest for the county. He would have previously testified in court on the side of the State Attorney, so the decision was made for Baker to be held in the Bureau County Jail, and the Attorney General took over the case.

Current Status and Outlook:

At the pre-trial conference on September 19th 2025, Baker was assigned Public Defender Hamer as his previously retained private counsel withdrew. This caused Baker to waive his right for a speedy trial, cancelling the previously scheduled Jury Trial on September 29th, and he is to remain in custody until his next status hearing on November 13th 2025 with Judge Vescogni.

At the Status Hearing on November 13th 2025, a continuance was requested and the next Status Hearing is scheduled for January 15th 2025.

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-Willow Moss