Contributed Photo/Courtesy GCSO: Remington Lewis Baldwin, 29, of Safford, was sentenced Monday to 30 years in prison for multiple child sex crimes.
Called wolf in sheep’s clothing by the victim’s parents
By Jon Johnson
“He is truly a wolf in sheep’s clothing, and as long as there are sheep in this world to protect, this wolf needs to be locked away.”
Victim’s Parents
SAFFORD – Remington Lewis Baldwin, 29, of Safford, was sentenced to 30 years in prison Monday after previously pleading guilty to multiple child sex charges.
Baldwin appeared in front of Graham County Superior Court Judge Michael D. Peterson on Monday and was sentenced to 30 years in prison per his plea agreement.
Baldwin was sentenced on two separate cases. The first case was an amended four counts of attempted sexual conduct with a minor. The plea agreement stipulated a prison sentence of 20 years followed by lifetime sex offender probation. The second case involved 15 child pornographic images unrelated to the molestation charges. In that case, Baldwin plead guilty to two amended charges of attempted sexual exploitation of a minor and was sentenced to a consecutive term of 10 years in prison followed by lifetime sexual offender probation as per his plea agreement. In total, Baldwin was sentenced to 30 years in prison with credit for about a year and three months of incarceration.
Prior to sentencing, a victim’s advocate read a statement from the victim’s parents to the court expressing the severity of the crime and implored the court to give the longest sentence possible. In the letter, the parents describe Baldwin as being an “unrepentant predator” who “hurt and abused those that cared about you most, that trusted you the most.”
“No punishment for your horrible acts will repair the destruction you have caused, but I would seek this court to impose the maximum penalty . . . Mr. Baldwin should remain locked away for as long as possible for the protection of society. He is truly a wolf in sheep’s clothing, and as long as there are sheep in this world to protect, this wolf needs to be locked away.”
Baldwin was initially charged with nine counts of sexual conduct with a minor. Upon his initial arrest, his bond was set at $1 million.
He was arrested on Aug. 7, 2021, after a Thatcher Police investigation revealed what prosecutors believe to be the systematic sexual abuse of a child under the age of 15. The abuse allegedly lasted for years.
The victim’s father informed the police of the alleged abuse in late July after the victim confided in him. A forensic interview was later scheduled, and the victim described the abuse and how Baldwin would bribe him with gifts afterward.
After the interview, detectives used the victim’s cell phone to converse with Baldwin under the guise of being the victim. During those text messages, Baldwin never denied allegations of sexual assault from the victim’s phone but would rather urge the detectives posing as the victim to call him. Baldwin also texted to remind the victim to erase his text messages.
At that point, the victim agreed to make a call to Baldwin and the conversation was recorded.
During the course of the conversation, Baldwin apologized for the “inappropriate” behavior and said he “should have never done that,” according to a detective’s report.
The call ended with the victim convincing Baldwin to go to the victim’s residence and bring a soda with him. Baldwin said he would meet the victim at an old wooden stump away from the residence’s doorbell camera, but when Baldwin pulled up in a white, 2015 GMC Sierra pickup truck, he was greeted by the Thatcher Police and the truck was towed from the scene.
When detectives took Baldwin out of his truck and into custody, inside the vehicle’s center console was an unopened soda, just as requested by the victim.
During interrogation, Baldwin allegedly admitted to the contact but insisted it was the victim who instigated it.
Thatcher detectives also learned Baldwin had been a suspect in two other cases involving children, including one instance when he was accused of showering with a toddler and a Joseph City report out of the Navajo County Sheriff’s Office regarding Baldwin as the suspect in a sex abuse case involving a 15-year-old boy that had occurred three years ago. That case only began to be investigated in November 2020 and the victim ultimately declined to cooperate with criminal charges.
The thing with sexual things is you can’t prove you didn’t do it and they can’t really prove that you did,” Baldwin allegedly told detectives. “But they’re going to believe the person that’s saying you did it.”
Baldwin declined to address the court during his sentencing.
“You fooled a lot of people for a long time,” the victim’s parents’ letter stated. “Granted, you had help from those blind cowards that defended you and held up your supposed good name and excused or downplayed your awful deeds.”
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