Child predator released by SFDA charged by FBI
Child predator released by SFDA charged by FBI
SFDA dismissed 18 felony charges against King John Baylon in Jan. 2020
On Friday, Jan. 3, 2020, a 13-year-old girl named Sienna Carter accompanied her family from their Fort Bragg home in Mendocino County to the University of California San Francisco campus, where her sister was receiving treatment at the Madison Clinic for Pediatric Diabetes. At 3:30 p.m., saying she “needed some air,” Sienna left the facility and never returned.
Later that night, Jaclyn Davis, a restaurant worker in the Tenderloin district, saw a “tiny, shivering person” in a nearby alley and “assumed it was a drug addict.” As the sun set, Davis realized the person was actually a young girl, wearing only a dress and a tank top. She approached the child, who told Davis, “I’m fine. I’m waiting for someone.” Davis said her “mama bear” instinct kicked in and she refused to give up. The girl finally agreed to come inside, where Davis gave her some bread and tea. After about an hour, the girl abruptly left the restaurant. Knowing the Tenderloin is “a center for human trafficking,” Davis followed the girl and watched as she embraced an adult male and walked away. Saturday morning, a co-worker forwarded Davis a Facebook post about a missing girl named Sienna Carter. From the photograph, Davis recognized Sienna as the girl she helped the night before and contacted the police.
Around 10 a.m. Sunday, Jan. 5, Brian Sanchez, a BART station agent, noticed a “young and nervous” girl accompanied by a “seemingly older man” attempting to evade paying the toll at the Bay Point station. Sanchez requested identification and both said they had none. When asked about their age, according to Sanchez, the male said “he was 20 and she was 18.” Sanchez told them if they didn’t have money for the toll they would have to leave. An hour later, the pair returned and approached Sanchez again. The man asked if they could have tickets to get to the Civic Center, explaining they got drunk the night before, boarded a train, fell asleep, and woke up to BART officers escorting them off the train at Bay Point, where they “slept the rest of the night.”
Sanchez noted that the man did all the talking while the girl “just stood there.” He asked the girl where she was from and the man interrupted, saying he was “visiting her from Los Angeles.” At that point a BART police officer approached and began talking to the man, giving Sanchez an opportunity to talk directly to the girl. “What are you doing with him?” he asked. The girl said, “I’m visiting my mom.” Sanchez warned her to be careful. “He’s going to get you in trouble. He’s going to get you to do things that you aren’t supposed to be doing.” Clearly uncomfortable, the girl adjusted her coat and scarf, where Sanchez noticed a hickey on her neck. “What’s your name?” Sanchez asked. “Sienna,” the girl responded. Despite their concern, Sanchez and the officer let the pair go.
Later that day, with assistance from citizens who had seen her photograph, the UCSF Police Department located Sienna Carter with a 22-year-old male at a San Francisco Ferry Building warehouse. Sienna was returned to her family and the man, 22-year-old King John Baylon of Los Angeles, was arrested.
18 FELONIES, 1 MISDEMEANOR AND $1 MILLION BAIL
Baylon was charged with 18 felonies and one misdemeanor, including kidnapping, possession of child pornography, using a minor for sex acts, sexual intercourse with an underage person, oral copulation of a person under 18, lewd acts upon a child, and human trafficking of a minor.
Just two days later, Baylon was released from jail. UCSF Spokesperson Elizabeth Fernandez issued a statement:
We have just learned that the San Francisco District Attorney is setting aside charges pending further investigation into the case. I don’t have further information but wanted you to be aware as soon as we found this out.
On Jan. 8, Chesa Boudin was sworn in as District Attorney, replacing Mayor London Breed’s hand-picked interim top cop, Suzy Loftus. The changing of the guard fell as Baylon spent his second day in jail, and legally, suspects must be released if charges aren’t filed within 48 hours of their arrest. I assumed, as most people probably did, that Boudin would immediately file charges against Baylon, have him rearrested, and start his term off with a big case. But that didn’t happen.
I called the DA’s then-spokesperson Alex Bastian, someone I had worked with through the previous administrations of Kamala Harris and George Gascon. “So what happened? Did Baylon make his million-dollar bail?”
Bastian was quiet for a moment. “No, of course not,” he said.
“Well that’s the only reason I can think of for this guy to still be out,” I responded. “Is Boudin going to charge him?”
“The girl didn’t want to talk,” Alex said.
Now it was my turn to be quiet for a moment. “That’s not her decision to make,” I said. “She’s 13 years old — she can’t consent to what Baylon did to her. The DA represents The People. It’s Boudin’s responsibility to make sure this guy never hurts another young girl, is it not?”
“The parents weren’t easy to get ahold of…” Alex stumbled. “The grandparents didn’t want to pursue it…”
“That doesn’t matter! There is ample evidence to keep this guy in jail, Alex. They have Sienna’s phone. Baylon was in possession of child pornography…” and then I recited the long list of charges.
“Police did book him on those charges,” Alex confirmed. “But you can’t charge someone without evidence. They met on the Internet. She thought she was in love with him, and she won’t cooperate. If you don’t have a victim willing to testify there’s no case.”
“Are you saying Boudin can’t win a case if a victim doesn’t testify?” I asked. “Because cases are won all the time without the victim’s testimony. For example, in a murder.”
I’m pretty sure Bastian felt me rolling my eyes through the phone.
“Chesa can always reinstate the charges,” Bastian said meekly. “The case is still under investigation.”
14 MONTHS LATER…
The story haunted me, so I continued to pursue it. In March of 2021, I found Baylon sitting in a Los Angeles County jail cell on a warrant for GBI (great bodily injury) as well as new charges for carrying a loaded firearm in public. As I wrote in my April 2021 Reynolds Rap column for the Marina Times newspaper, the FBI also had a hold on him.
As the months passed and the pandemic raged, it became increasingly difficult to get information from local or national agencies. Then, on Monday, Sept. 20, 2021, I received a press release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office Northern District of California. The headline read: “Los Angeles Man Charged With Enticement Of Minor Girl Who Ran Away In San Francisco,” and I immediately knew it was Baylon.
Listed by his full name, Kingjohn Baylon Asuncion, the complaint alleges the now 23-year-old Los Angeles resident enticed a 13-year-old girl “to produce and send him child pornography on Instagram during the timeframe of December 25 through December 29, 2019.” It further alleges that on January 3, 2020, the minor female, who is from Northern California, ran away from her family, who were in San Francisco visiting the UCSF Medical Center, to meet up with Baylon. Two days later, the minor girl was found with Baylon at the Ferry Building in San Francisco.” Baylon is charged with persuading, coercing, or enticing a person younger than 18 years old to engage in a sexual activity, which includes the production of child pornography, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2422(b). If convicted, Baylon faces a minimum mandatory sentence of 10 years to a maximum of life in prison and a maximum fine of $250,000. He remains in federal custody.
It never ends. Despicable lack of prosecution continues in Gotham! Keep up the great reporting Susan
I think their idea is to pass the buck to State and Federal prosecutors, reduce local costs of trial and incarceration, and "export" the problem to a higher level of prosecution.