Prosecutor: teacher blindfolded, sexually assaulted Wayne County children under 16 during school vision tests
DETROIT (FOX 2) - A former teacher in Wayne County has been charged with sexual assaulting at least four children all under the age of 16 - including one during a vision test and three others while they were blindfolded.
James Adam Baird, 43, was charged on Wednesday in connection with the sexual assaults of five girls: a 10-year-old girl, 13-year-old, 11-year-old, and a 15-year-old.
According to a release from the Wayne County Prosecutor, Baird first sexually assaulted a then 10-year-old girl during a vision test at a school Garden City on January 4, 2018. The victim said she was undergoing vision tests when Baird sexually assaulted her.
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Two months later, on March 1, 2018, a 13-year-old at a school in Westland says she was blindfolded and then sexually assaulted by Baird.
On May 1, 2019, an 11-year-old girl at the same school in Garden City reported she was also blindfolded and sexually assaulted. And on Feb. 11, 2020, a 15-year-old girl at a Westland school reported the same thing happened to her.
Baird was arraigned in Westland on three counts each of first degree criminal sexual conduct and second degree criminal sexual conduct on Wednesday, Feb. 1, 2023 – almost four years since the last girl reported the assault.
He was given a $100,000 personal bond – which means he can get out without paying bond. If he fails to show up for court, he would then have to pay the $100,000 bond.
Baird was given a GPS tether and is due back in court on Feb. 16.
For the Garden City crime, he was charged with first degree criminal sexual conduct and second degree criminal sexual conduct and given a $15,000 personal bond. He's due back in that case on Feb. 13.