A convicted sex offender has pleaded guilty to two counts of failure to register as a sex offender.

South Central District Judge David Reich sentenced James Baker, 40, to one year in prison with six months suspended and two years of supervised probation Monday afternoon at the Burleigh County Courthouse. Baker will get credit for 54 days served in the Burleigh County Detention Center and also will have to pay fines of $350.

The two sentences for the Class Amisdemeanors will be served concurrently.

Burleigh County Assistant State's Attorney Julie Lawyer said Baker, a low-risk sex offender, had been registered on South 13th Street since September. However, police learned in April that Baker had moved to North 12th Street, then to another unknown address without informing authorities, she said.

Baker has to register as a sex offender because of a 2002 conviction for sexual assault.

Baker also had been charged with three counts of Class AA felony gross sexual imposition for allegedly raping the 15-year-old daughter of the people he had been staying with in March.

Lawyer asked that the counts be dismissed without prejudice, which means the charges can be filed again at a later date.

After the hearing, Lawyer said the investigation into the alleged incidents is not complete. She does not know if the charges will be filed again.

"It depends on where the investigation leads,"she said.

Baker has been held on $50,000 cash bond. He said Monday that he now understands the importance of registering with law enforcement. He said he had other things on his mind besides registering after being evicted from his 13th Street address.

"I was thinking more I had to find someplace to live," he said.

(Reach reporter Jenny Michael at 250-8225 or jenny.michael@;bismarcktribune.com.)