A 36-year-old Waynesboro man is locked up on $200,000 bail after police charged him with a string of felony sex crimes against a child, allegations investigators say unfolded over years and, in some instances, with other people nearby. Titus Luke Baker now faces numerous felony charges tied to alleged sexual abuse offenses in Waynesboro, according to police.
Waynesboro police were informed in July of a possible series of sexual assaults involving Baker, as reported by Tri-State Alert. Investigators say the alleged abuse possibly happened at a home Baker purchased in the borough of Waynesboro in December 2020, and police also indicate some of it may have occurred at a home in Maryland. Officers say the abuse occurred primarily at night, and that in some instances it happened with other people around, according to police.
Baker was charged with felony aggravated indecent assault of a child less than 13, felony corruption of minors, and misdemeanor indecent assault of a person less than 13, per the case docket, numbered MJ-39302-CR-0000384-2026. The Waynesboro Police Department, tracking the case under incident number WTPD2026-05911, collaborated with other police agencies and the Children's Advocacy Center during the investigation, the outlet's report notes.
How the Investigation Unfolded
Police conducted an interview with the juvenile victim as part of the case, and officers say the incidents greatly affected the child's mental state. The Children's Advocacy Center of Franklin County, which coordinates child abuse investigations across the region, runs forensic interviews through a Multidisciplinary Investigative Team designed to limit re-traumatization for young victims, according to the Children's Advocacy Center of Franklin County.
That kind of collaboration is built into how Pennsylvania handles these cases. State child protection rules require abuse allegations to move through the statewide ChildLine hotline, which automatically triggers joint assessments between local police and county child welfare caseworkers, per Franklin County Children and Youth Services. Locally, the agency fielded 3,587 referrals and opened 496 child abuse investigations in 2024, resulting in 17 substantiated cases of child sexual abuse, according to the Franklin County Commissioners.
What the Charges Carry
Aggravated indecent assault of a child under 13 is graded as a first- or second-degree felony under Pennsylvania's Crimes Code, carrying a maximum statutory sentence of up to 20 years in state prison, according to Frank Walker Law. Felony corruption of minors by an adult, meanwhile, is graded a third-degree felony punishable by up to seven years in prison, a $15,000 fine, and a mandatory 15-year sex offender registration requirement under SORNA, per the Zuckerman Law Firm.
Sustaining a felony-grade corruption charge isn't automatic. A 2014 Pennsylvania Superior Court ruling in Commonwealth v. Kelly established that prosecutors must prove an ongoing course of conduct across multiple incidents rather than pointing to a single isolated act, a precedent that helps explain why police describe a series of alleged assaults rather than one encounter.
Bail, Detention, and What's Next
Baker failed to post his $200,000 bail and remains incarcerated at the Franklin County Jail in Chambersburg. Pennsylvania's rules of criminal procedure direct magisterial district judges to weigh community safety and flight risk when setting monetary bail thresholds, which helps explain why Baker has stayed behind bars since his arrest. The facility, designed for 500 inmates, recorded an average daily population of 266 during a recent 12-month evaluation period, according to a U.S. Department of Justice PREA audit.
It remains unclear whether authorities in Maryland will pursue separate charges given police indications that some of the alleged abuse may have occurred across the state line. Baker's preliminary hearing date in Franklin County Magisterial District Court has not yet been reported.
Waynesboro Borough, home to 10,951 residents as of the 2020 U.S. Census, sits in southern Franklin County near the Mason-Dixon line between Hagerstown and Chambersburg. Statewide, sexual abuse consistently represents the largest category among all substantiated child abuse cases tracked by the Pennsylvania Department of Human Services, according to the Franklin County Commissioners. All charges against Baker remain allegations at this stage of the case, unproven in a court of law.
