Former APS employee charged on five counts of CSC

By Gari Voss

James Baird, a former vision specialist in Wayne County schools and ex-employee of Allegan County schools, was charged with five counts of criminal sexual conduct on Wednesday, February 1, 2023. The action was taken after suits were filed against Baird, Livonia Public Schools and Garden City Schools in 2021.
Attorney Ven Johnson related to 7 Action News, “We strongly suspected there were others involved and obviously sadly, that’s come to fruition. He got that opportunity because Livonia Public Schools did not do their job.”
The statement referred to the fact that Baird had been released from his position serving Allegan area schools. Those represented by Ven Johnson feel that had Livonia Public Schools done their due diligence, they would have had conversations with Allegan Schools regarding Baird’s dismissal and found that he was released because of taking pictures with high school girls. This would have prevented him from being hired in Livonia.
Baird’s position involved providing specialized services to students with visual impairments who attended schools in Wayne County, which included Livonia. Livonia Public Schools contend that Baird was not associated with the vision screening services alleged by the suit. In addition, they stated that they had followed appropriate screening practices in doing background checks when hiring Baird.
Garden City Schools, in which Baird also worked, stated that they were in the process of investigating the complaints of misconduct, but stressed that they hold the safety of their students as a top priority.
That said, investigators found that the assaults cited date back to January 2018 when Baird allegedly sexually assaulted a 10-year-old child several times during a vision exam. In March 2018, prosecutors discovered that Baird blindfolded a 13-year-old before sexually assaulting her. Another blindfolded sexual assault of an 11-year-old occurred in May 2019.
Children were expressing their discomfort with Baird, which can be an indicator that something is not right. In addition, the students expressed a loss of appetite, refused to interact with people, had nightmares, and did not want to do homework or go to school. Once the parents learned of Baird’s actions with victims as young as 8 years old in Livonia and Garden City Schools, they took action.
Finally, on Wednesday, February 1, 2023, Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy announced that Baird had been charged with five counts of criminal sexual conduct. The assaults dated back to early 2018 and involved girls who were 10, 11, 13 and 15 at the time of the assaults.
Assault charges varied from multiple times during vision tests to blindfolding then sexually assaulting the child. On March 1, 2018, a 13-year-old was sexually assaulted at Marshall Elementary in Westland, which garnered a first-degree criminal sexual conduct. Also in 2018, Baird assaulted a 10-year-old multiple times when administering a vision test.
On January 4, 2018 and May 1, 2019, Baird was charged with two counts of second-degree criminal sexual conduct at Douglas Elementary. Again in February 2020, sexual conduct with a 15-year-old girl brought first-degree and second-degree allegations.
Wednesday, February 1st, Baird was arraigned in 18th District Court in Westland, as well as in 21st District Court in Garden City. He is free on 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 February 9, 2023.