EVERETT — A former Monroe police sergeant convicted last month of sex crimes won’t be headed to jail for the holidays.
Carlos Alberto Martinez was scheduled for sentencing Monday. Instead, the brief hearing was used to reschedule that reckoning for Jan. 21.
More legal work is necessary, including completion of a pre-sentencing investigation by state corrections officials, the judge was told.
Martinez admitted that in 2004 he secretly videotaped a 15-year-old babysitter while she took showers in the bathroom of his former Monroe home. He also admitted beginning a years-long sexual relationship with the teen.
Martinez maintained the videotaping was legal, insisting he acted without sexual motivation. He also testified that his interest in her didn’t surface until she was 18, and well beyond the age of consent.
At the time, the former babysitter was a senior in high school. Martinez was married and 52.
A jury in November listened to two weeks of testimony before finding Martinez guilty of voyeurism and possession of depictions of a minor engaged in sexually explicit conduct. Both are felonies.
Jurors also reached a special verdict, finding that prosecutors did not prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Martinez’ victim learned of the voyeurism within the statute of limitations necessary for filing the case in 2013. That means only the child pornography charge, for Martinez’ continued possession of the shower videos until late 2011, will factor into his punishment.
He faces up to a year in jail under state sentencing guidelines.
Martinez, 61, worked for the Monroe Police Department for 20 years and was once so well respected that he was appointed to fill a vacancy on the school board. He met the girl when she was 10 and he was teaching an anti-drug curriculum to her elementary school class.
The Washington State Patrol began investigating Martinez in 2012 after being contacted by an FBI task force based in Texas.
Martinez has remained free pending sentencing after posting $50,000 bond and surrendering his passport.
Scott North: 425-339-3431; north@heraldnet.com. Twitter: @snorthnews
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