Los Banos man accused of 34 sex abuse violations

A 62-year-old Los Banos man has been arrested for alleged sex crimes including possession of child pornography and abusing an 11-year-old child.

Arthur Gonzalo Martinez was recently arrested on a warrant alleging 34 felony sexual abuse violations following a yearlong investigation by the Merced County District Attorney’s Investigations Unit, according to a press release from the District Attorney’s Office. Los Banos and Merced police detectives also participated in the investigation.

Law enforcement on Jan. 7 served search and arrest warrants at Martinez’s Los Banos residence. He was taken into custody for alleged possession of child pornography and for taking “invasion of privacy” type video recordings of women in the process of bathing. He was released from jail Jan. 8 after posting bail, according to the release.

Martinez was arrested Tuesday on additional charges. During the Jan. 7 service of the search warrant investigators had determined the identity of a female juvenile who was a possible victim of sexual abuse by Martinez.

“Identifying an unknown victim of unreported child sexual exploitation – over five years after the crimes occurred – simply from photographs, then locating that victim and finally putting the perpetrator behind bars … that’s just good police work and serves as an excellent example of what can be accomplished when law enforcement agencies pool their resources and talents,” Merced County District Attorney Larry Morse II said in the release.

Investigators believe that in 2009 Martinez, 56 at the time, sexually abused his 11-year-old victim for about four months. Martinez could be facing a maximum sentence of life in prison if convicted of all of the crimes alleged by investigators.

“Martinez’s arrest was obviously a major part of the investigation; however, the investigation is still ongoing,” Morse said.

Detectives are asking anyone with information about the case or other persons claiming to have been victimized by Martinez to call District Attorney Supervising Investigator Wayne Hutton at (209) 385-7383, ext. 4239, or Los Banos Police Department Detective Sgt. Ivan Mendez at (209) 827-7070.

Total bail on Martinez’s warrant is $4,625,000.

This story was originally published January 27, 2015 at 5:35 PM with the headline "Los Banos man accused of 34 sex abuse violations."