(WWJ) – A man who was hired to help visually impaired students at schools in Wayne County has been charged with multiple counts of sexually assaulting children.
James Adam Baird of Plymouth was charged with five total counts of criminal sexual conduct, Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy announced Wednesday. The victims were ages 10, 11, 13 and 15 at the time of the alleged assaults, which date back to early 2018.
A federal lawsuit filed against Livonia Public Schools and Garden City Public Schools in 2021 alleged Baird, now 43, fondled and sexually assaulted multiple visually impaired students when he was supposed to be helping them with orientation and mobility.
Baird was employed by the Livonia district and on contract with Garden City, according to the lawsuit. While his employment was terminated with Garden City, he remained employed at Livonia while authorities investigated. While the prosecutor's office didn't disclose his employment status Wednesday, officials referred to him as a "former teacher."
On Wednesday he was charged with two counts of second-degree criminal sexual conduct of a person under 13 at Douglas Elementary School in Garden City, for two separate incidents that happened on Jan. 4, 2018 and May 1, 2019.
The prosecutor’s office alleges in the 2018 incident Baird sexually assaulted a then-10-year-old girl multiple times while administering vision tests. In the 2019 incident, he allegedly blindfolded a then-11-year-old girl and sexually assaulted her, according to the prosecutor’s office.
Baird is also accused of blindfolding and sexually assaulting a then-13-year-old girl at Marshall Elementary School in Westland on March 1, 2018. He was charged with one count of first-degree criminal sexual conduct of a person under 13 for that incident.
He was also charged with first-degree and second-degree criminal sexual conduct for allegedly doing the same to a then-15-year-old student at Stevenson Middle School in Westland on Feb. 11, 2020.
Baird was arraigned Wednesday in 18th District Court in Westland, as well as in 21st District Court in Garden City. He was given a $100,000 personal bond and a GPS tether in both Westland cases. He was ordered to have no contact with girls under the age of 18.
In both Garden City cases, Baird was issued a $15,000 bond and GPS tether, according to the prosecutor’s office. His next court date is scheduled for Feb. 9.
When the 2021 lawsuit was filed, one of the girls’ mothers, Donica Petty, said Baird took her daughter inside a room and abused her.
“He closed the door, blindfolded her and asked her, ‘does she know the difference between a hot dog and sausage?’ She felt very uncomfortable, felt something on her mouth, she took the blindfold off and saw him pulling up his pants,” she said at the time.
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