Suspect Indicted for Traveling Nearly 200 Miles to Sexually Assault a Child

ABILENE, TX – A metroplex man has been indicted by a Taylor County grand jury on Thursday for allegedly traveling nearly 200 miles and then sexually assaulting a child. 

In May of 2018 the Arlington and Clyde Police Departments contacted the Abilene Police Department about a child sex crime that happened in Abilene that involved 40-year-old Michael Wayne Baggett.

A search warrant was issued on Baggett's phone by the Arlington PD and they found a number of text messages that described the sex he had with a 14-year-old girl in Abilene. According to KTXS, The victim told police that she met Baggett on a dating site. She said she immediately told Baggett she was 14 and he claimed to be younger than 40.

Police say that Baggett traveled from his residence in Plano down to Clyde to meet the child. On April 22, the two met at the Chicken Express and then Wal-Mart where Baggett forced the girl to have oral sex with him. Text messages recovered detailed the two discussing the oral sex and then Baggett told the girl what he wanted to do next with her.

Baggett was arrested in January and is being held on a $575,000 bond. Baggett is facing charges for sexual assault of a child and indecency with a child by contact. He is also facing child sex crimes in Callahan and Tarrant.