Crime & Safety

Doc Who Wanted to Feel Good Traded Drugs for Sex on Craigslist

Tripped up by a police sting, Oak Park man could be headed to federal prison for 9 to 11 years.

OAK PARK, IL — Three years ago, Wilmette Police arrested Dr. Joshua Baron, a pediatric neurologist, and accused him of bartering drugs for sex on Craigslist.

“Do you need Adderall?" the Oak Park doctor's ads would read. "Please let me know what you are willing to trade. Please also send a pic. I am good-looking, fun and into just about anything.”

At least 16 people took him up on the offer, according to authorities. But Baron was snared when he tried to trade drugs for sex with an undercover cop. At one point, he even told the undercover cop to look up his photo on the Rush University Medical Center website.

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Now the 40-year-old ex-doctor could get 9 to 11 years in prison, according to a plea deal entered into federal court Friday.

Baron confessed he provided thousands of doses of controlled substances — 3,420 Adderall and Xanax pills as well as Norco, Percocet, Vicodin, Ativan, Ritalin, Darvocet and Oxycontin  — between 2006 and 2011 and received sex and money in return.

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All the while, he was conducting research and clinical trials on children with epilepsy and studies to evaluate new pharmaceuticals for kids.

After Wilmette Police arrested Baron in 2011, the DEA and Chicago Police launched a broader probe of his activities, resulting in the federal charges in October. After his arrest, Baron was suspended from his job at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago, and he voluntarily gave up his medical license. He was also affiliated with Stroger Hospital in Cook County and St. Anthony's Hospital.


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