Idaho man’s ‘traumatizing and inexcusable’ sex crimes earn him at least 20 years in prison

alyssag ABOUT SEX OFFENDERS AND OTHERS, CHILD PORNOGRAPHY, SENTENCING, STALKING, THREE CHEERS FOR YOU

Alex Brizee

BOISE (Idaho Statesman) — An Idaho man was sentenced to at least 20 years in prison after he stalked several teenage girls at Ada County parks in 2021, the Ada County Prosecutor’s Office said Thursday.

Upon Kyle C. Baxter’s arrest, he was found to be in possession of “hundreds of sexually exploitative images and videos of minors.”

On Wednesday, the 39-year-old was sentenced by 4th District Judge James Cawthon to 20 years fixed and 15 years indeterminate, according to a news release from the prosecutor’s office, meaning he must serve 20 years before he’s eligible for parole. Cawthon described Baxter’s actions as “traumatizing and inexcusable,” and stated his conduct was “rooted with sexual offenses being the goal,” the release said.

Baxter pleaded guilty in March to four felonies: stalking in the first degree, sexual abuse of a minor under 16 and two counts of possession of sexually exploitative material of a minor. In exchange for Baxter’s plea, three first-degree stalking charges were dropped, according to online court records and Emily Lowe, a spokesperson with the Ada County Prosecutor’s Office.

“I want to thank the victims in this case for speaking out and reporting the alarming conduct by the defendant,” Ada County Prosecutor Jan Bennetts said in the news release.

From April to August of last year, Baxter stalked several teenage girls at parks throughout Ada County, the release said, and on one occasion grabbed one of the victim’s buttocks. Baxter, on another occasion, made a “sexually suggestive comment and appeared to be recording the victim,” according to the news release. He then texted one of the victims and attempted to “engage her in sexual conversation.”

Baxter was arrested in August 2021 after three of the victims saw Ada County sheriff’s deputies at a Kuna park — where Baxter had stalked them — and reported it, according to the release.

“The victims told law enforcement they recognized Mr. Baxter as having followed them at a Meridian park earlier that summer,” according to the release.