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Posted on 04/09/2004 9:24:03 AM PDT by Theodore R.
Landfill discovery leads to sexual assault charges
BY LAUREL ALMADA Times staff writer
A Laredo woman was indicted for alleged sex crimes Tuesday after someone found a box containing explicit photographs and other items at the city's landfill.
Maria D. Martinez, 47, of the 2500 block of Boston, is charged with one count of indecency with a child by exposure and two counts of sexual performance by a child.
The indictment alleges that Martinez exposed herself to a child under the age of 17 and induced the child to engage in sexual conduct on two occasions occurring on or about Feb. 8, 2003.
Assistant District Attorney Linda Garza Martinez said Wednesday that the case stemmed from a box of photographs and compact discs found at the city dump.
Some of the photographs contained within the box allegedly depict both the victim and defendant committing the alleged offenses.
In addition, Garza Martinez said the case is also related to that of Bernardo A. Jimenez-Espinoza, also known as Carlos Guantos, who was sentenced Tuesday to serve 60 years in prison after being convicted of two counts of aggravated sexual assault.
She said the defendant in the current case claims that it was Jimenez-Espinoza who took the photographs.
Jimenez-Espinoza and his common-law wife, Victoria Mejia-Santana, were both convicted of sexual offenses after allegedly luring children into their residence on the 1400 block of Madero.
Subsequent reports revealed that Mejia-Santana herself was a victim of Jimenez-Espinoza, as she had been living with him since the age of 12.
The now 20-year-old woman is currently serving a four-year prison term in exchange for her guilty plea to two lesser-included indecency with a child offenses.
Garza Martinez explained Wednesday that although Maria Martinez named Jimenez-Espinoza as a party to the current charges, he cannot be indicted for the charges due to the plea agreement he and his attorney, Fausto Sosa, worked out with her earlier.
Since the victim in Maria-Martinez' case is the same victim in one of Jimenez-Espinoza's cases, he cannot be prosecuted as a party to those offenses, she said.
If other victims come forward or are revealed through subsequent investigation, Jimenez-Espinoza could be prosecuted for those offenses, Garza Martinez said.
Maria Martinez, however, is facing up to 20 years in prison if convicted of either sexual performance charge and up to 10 years in prison if convicted of the indecency offense.
She is currently being held in custody in lieu of a combined $75,000 bond.
(Times staff writer Laurel Almada can be reached at 728-2564 or e-mailed at laurel@lmtonline.com.)
04/09/04
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