WATERFORD TOWNSHIP, Mich. – A priest who spent the last 26 years at several churches around Metro Detroit has been restricted from all public ministry amid allegations that he sexually abused a minor, officials said.
Rev. Joseph H. Baker, 57, is accused of sexually abusing a child during the earlier years of his ministry, according to the Archdiocese of Detroit.
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He is not allowed to represent himself as a priest, wear clerical attire or exercise any form of church ministry while restricted, officials said.
Baker will be monitored to make sure he's complying with the restrictions, officials with the archdiocese said.
Auxilary Bishop of Detroit Gerard Battersby has been named temporary administrator of St. Perpetua Parish in Waterford Township, where Baker was assigned as pastor.
Anyone with information about sexual abuse by clergy or church representatives is asked to call police or the Michigan Attorney General's Office at 844-324-3374.
Career history
Baker studied at Michigan Technological University and Sacred Heart Major Seminary in Detroit. He was ordained in 1993.
He was the associate pastor of St. Hugo of the Hills Parish in Bloomfield Hills from 1993-1996 and of Sacred Heart Parish in Dearborn from 1996-1997.
Baker was also the campus minister at the Wayne State Medical School Campus Ministry from 1996-1997.
He became the pastor of St. Mary Parish in Wayne in 1997 and held that position until 2008. During that time, Baker was an administrator at Kevin and Norbert Parish in Inkster from 2003-2004 and Holy Family Parish in Inkster from 2003-2008.
Baker has been a pastor at St. Perpetua Parish in Waterford Township since 2008. He was also an administrator at St. Benedict Parish in Waterford Township in 2011.