Former Seward Police Chief Robert I. Baldwin Jr. was sentenced to a short jail term on Friday.

Baldwin, 52, was ordered to serve at least 30 days behind bars in connection with charges that he offered two women leniency in exchange for sex.

Baldwin had been free on a $25,000 bond since his arrest two years ago related to incidents in 2019 and 2020 in which prosecutors said he leveraged his position as a police officer to solicit sexual liaisons in return for leniency. He was immediately handcuffed and taken to Westmoreland County Prison after being sentenced by County Common Pleas Court Judge Meagan Bilik-DeFazio to serve up to 23 months in jail.

“I would like to apologize for my actions. I spent my life serving the community I loved,” Baldwin said. “It hurts me deeply I can’t serve these communities anymore.”

Baldwin pleaded guilty in April to one felony count of sexual extortion and a misdemeanor charge of official oppression.

According to court records, a 37-year-old New Florence woman claimed Baldwin suggested a sexual encounter during a traffic stop in Seward in February 2020. She said Baldwin offered to drop a potential traffic infraction and asked she follow him to another location for sex.

Authorities said the woman believed she had no choice to consent to another sexual liaison with Baldwin and avoid a potential arrest when he visited her home the following day.

Investigators charged Baldwin for another incident a year earlier, in 2019, when while off duty he stopped a women in St. Clair Township, subsequently met with her three times and made sexual advances while offering to drop a potential criminal case against her.

“It is one of the biggest displeasures of my career to be involved in a case with an officer like this. This case is one where an officer used his position for personal gain and it shakes the foundation which is so important, where people protect and serve the community,” said Assistant District Attorney Anthony Iannamorelli. “To have an officer take advantage of these women, I don’t know how you right this wrong.”

Iannamorelli said he previously prosecuted cases with Baldwin, circumstances he now regrets.

“I feel betrayed I called this man as a witness,” Iannamorelli said.

Defense attorney Jaclyn Shaw asked the judge for leniency for Baldwin, saying that he put his safety at risk while serving as a police officer.

Baldwin, she said, is the sole provider for his estranged wife and young child.

“Mr. Baldwin had dedicated the previous 28 years in that environment. He dedicated his life to public service,” Shaw said.

Baldwin resigned as a police officer after his arrest and for the last year has worked as a truck driver.

Bilik-DeFazio said that because Baldwin no longer serves as police officer, it was unlikely he would commit similar offenses, but said his actions warranted a short period of incarceration.

In addition to the jail sentence, Baldwin was ordered to serve six months of house arrest.

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