A jury sentenced a Harris County preacher on Wednesday to at least 15 years for sexually abusing a young neighbor whose parent he befriended during Bible study.
Charles Martinez acknowledges a person in the audience at the Harris County Criminal Courthouse 174th District Court, Wednesday, May 18, 2022, in Houston. Martinez is expected to be sentenced on Wednesday, in connection to a 2015 sexual assault of an intellectually disabled adult. Martinez was previously charged in 2001 out of Brazoria County for abuse at a ranch for troubled children.
The jury on Tuesday convicted the 60-year-old on two counts of sexual assault of a child. The assaults began in 2012 and continued at least through 2015, when the girl’s father reported the abuse to the Harris County Sheriff’s Office. “The defendant had initially drawn her out to his ranch trailer to introduce her to his horses,” according to court documents.
During the sentencing trial, the preacher’s mother testified that her son often cares for her. She was the only witness to take the stand. Defense attorney Stanley Schneider said he did not think back-to-back sentences would be appropriate and that the judge should not consider testimony from other victims in making her decision. Their charges were not before the jury, he explained.
A jury convicted Martinez on those charges and he was sentenced to prison. The verdict, however, was overturned on appeal and he pleaded guilty to a lesser, misdemeanor charge, prosecutors said. The victims, a boy and girl, were 13 at the time of the abuse.
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