Los Banos man to face 28 years in prison for child molestation
A Los Banos man pleaded guilty to four felony counts of child molestation and is scheduled to be formally sentenced later this week, the Merced County District Attorney’s Office announced Tuesday.
Arthur Gonzalo Martinez, 63, is expected to be sentenced to 28 years in state prison by Judge Ronald Hansen on Friday.
The investigation regarding Martinez began last December when the Los Banos police were provided with a micro digital card allegedly belonging to him that contained more than 30 images of previously identified child pornography, the District Attorney’s Office said in a news release. The digital card also contained child pornography images dating to 2009 that had not been previously identified, the news release said.
Videos in which an unsuspecting minor or adult woman was recorded undressed also were found on the memory card.
In January, district attorney investigators and police detectives served a search warrant at Martinez’s Los Banos residence. During the search, investigators found information that led to identifying the name of a girl who was a victim of sexual abuse by Martinez, according to the news release. With the help of the Lake County and Sacramento County district attorney’s offices, investigators were able to locate the victim.
Martinez was out on bail from the child pornography charges when he was arrested on Jan. 26 outside the Merced Superior Court on sexual abuse charges.
Investigators believe that in 2009 Martinez “groomed” the then-11-year-old girl into feeling comfortable around him. According to investigators, Martinez then systematically abused the victim for a period of about four months. The girl had attempted to report the abuse to her family but was not believed at the time and no police reports were made, the news release said.
“Martinez has been in custody since the date of his arrest last January,” District Attorney Larry D. Morse said in Tuesday’s statement. “With this sentence, it’s likely that he will spend the rest of his life behind bars for the crimes he’s committed, given his age.”
Deputy District Attorney Michael McKinney who prosecuted the case, said in the release that the now-18-year-old victim has been notified.
“When she was a child, she disclosed the abuse, yet nothing was done,” McKinney said. “Despite that, she remained courageous and consistent. Now through this investigation and prosecution, we were able to help a long since forgotten victim obtain justice.”
This story was originally published December 1, 2015 at 5:26 PM with the headline "Los Banos man to face 28 years in prison for child molestation."