A former Waukegan police officer, who was previously convicted of sexually abusing a child, is facing charges for allegedly stalking a woman and calling for ICE to arrest her, saying she was potentially not a U.S. citizen.
Willis K. Baird, 55, of Kenosha, Wisconsin, was charged last week with one count of stalking, a Class I felony, in Kenosha County Circuit Court.
The Kenosha Police Department responded around 3 p.m. on March 26 to Commercial Plastics Company, 9600 55th Street in Kenosha, for a suspicious incident call.
A caller reported a male subject was standing outside the business with a sign that had an employee’s name on it.
Officers made contact with a female who reported she knew the male, identified as Baird, according to a criminal complaint.
He was previously employed at Commercial Plastics Company and was involved in a short romantic relationship with the woman.
The victim told officers she had recently ended their relationship and that Baird stood outside her place of employment on March 23 and March 26 with a sign, the complaint said.
The sign had the woman’s name, where she worked, who she was married to and that she had cheated on her husband with Baird, the complaint said.
The sign also said that ICE should report to the location to take the woman away as she was potentially not a U.S. citizen.
The woman told police that Baird had told her, after she ended their relationship, that he was going to stand outside her place of employment and indicate that she was an illegal resident, the complaint said.
Surveillance video captured Baird standing outside the warehouse holding the sign with an umbrella, the complaint said. The victim said she feared Baird and what he might do.
During the March 23 incident, the woman was told by her shift manager that Baird was standing outside with a sign that had information about her on it.
The woman also reported that Baird had sent four pieces of mail addressed to her husband as he knows where her family resides, the complaint said.
The letters contained information written in Spanish. The contents of the letters were about the woman and Baird’s romantic relationship and that she had cheated on her husband, the complaint said.
Among the text on the signs was, “may be an undocumented illegal from Mexico” as well as “unfaithful = in-fiel,” “dishonest = deshonesta,” “scandalous = escandalosa,” and “cheating = infield.”
The right side of the sign read, “engano a su marido [name]”, “cheated on her husband [name]”, “ICE agests go to [address].”
Officers spoke with Baird, who reported he was exercising his First Amendment right and that he was only disseminating information about the woman to her husband, the complaint said.
Baird told officers he had a right to tell her husband about their affair and that adultery was a crime.
He admitted to sending a picture of the sign that he was holding up outside of the woman’s workplace to some of her co-workers so they would disseminate the information about her, the complaint said.
Baird was previously a Waukegan police officer who lost his job after being convicted of statutory rape of a 15-year-old Waukegan High School student. He received a three-year probation and a 100-day jail sentence in that case in August 1999.
Baird is scheduled to appear for an initial appearance hearing on September 2.