by Big Daddy Weaver » Thu Jan 21, 2010 10:52 am
Matt Baker may have victimized numerous women along the way (including obviously killing his own wife in cold blood). But I'm not willing to buy into the portrayal buy his own ex-mistress, Vanessa Bulls, whose quotes are cited on Christa's blog, as a victim.
The sexual relationship began in March. Baker murdered his wife in April. And the affair continued through June and into July. Bulls was told by Baker that he was going to kill his wife well ahead of time, Bull said and did nothing, Bulls knew he had previously attempted to drug her and again said or did nothing. After the murder, Bulls did not keep quiet. Instead, she lied over and over to police and investigators. She continued her affair and did so in public.
It was not until Tuesday that Bulls finally came clean with the truth. Baker maybe "warped" her mind to some extent. I don't know. Whatever effect Baker had on her, I don't think it absolves Bulls of moral culpability and legal scholars have said that it may not completely absolve her of legal culpability EVEN though she was granted some sort of testimonial immunity.
No doubt that Baker was a skeezy adulterer - even his own lawyer admitted that. I think Baker's background demonstrates the difficulty in dealing with He-Said, She-Said scenarios. I don't think we have enough information available to really determine whether Baylor appropriately handled the original accusations. She said he forced himself on her, groped her, rubbed on her, etc. He of course denied. And then supposedly the girl had made a similar accusation back in high school, I believe. Those who investigated the incident ultimately believe Baker. And he walks.
The details are a bit more fuzzy and FBC Waco. And it does appear that FBC Waco didn't handle the situation appropriately. I'm not sure how many parishioners ever found out about the accusations.
There doesn't seem to be an easy answer, no blue-print on how to proceed. A little more than a year ago now, another Truett student was arrested on the accusations that he assaulted a youth member, similar to the accusations made against Baker while at Baylor. However, charges were never filed because prosecutors determined that the young teen was lying.
The accused minister was not allowed to continue his job upon the accusations and I doubt he'll ever work with youth again even though the accusations turned out not to be true.
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