Ex-con gets 70-year sentence for rape, robbery

An ex-convict has been sentenced to 70 years in prison for beating and raping a North Texas woman last year before stealing her car.

Tarrant County prosecutors announced Friday that 47-year-old Kenneth Dale Baker was sentenced after earlier being convicted of sexual assault and robbery.

They say Baker was armed with a handgun in August 2013 when he forced his way into the woman’s Haltom City home as she was leaving for work.

A couple who knew Baker later contacted police because he had asked them for a ride out of town, acknowledging he had accosted a woman.

He was later arrested by police who connected him to the crime scene through DNA and other evidence.

Baker had prior convictions for burglary, theft and drug possession, among other offenses.