KING 5 first learned Wednesday that Washington State Patrol investigators are accusing a former Monroe police sergeant of sexually exploiting a girl, starting when she was 14 years old. Carlos Martinez, 58, now faces three felony charges in connection with a decade-long sexual relationship with the girl, which included him taking secret videos and pictures of her.
On Thursday, KING 5 obtained a document called a superform, which investigators and prosecutors use to lay out their case. This document sheds light on new details in the case, including a potential cover-up that could have stopped the abuse years ago.
According to the superform, Martinez raped the victim in 2004. The girl, who is now 24, says she twice went to a school counselor seeking help. Investigators go on to say in the document that the school counselor did reach out to tell a Child Protective Services (CPS) employee. That CPS employee was allegedly in a relationship with Martinez.
Both the Monroe School District and Department of Social and Health Services, which oversees CPS, say they are investigating these claims internally. Neither is commenting on this case publicly. Though, the school district said that they don t have any records of the girl coming to the counselor because they are not required by the state to keep that kind of record for more than six years.
The State Patrol also claims in the superform that while the sexual relationship with the victim who has come forward started when the girl was 14, she says Martinez started grooming her in the fifth grade.
Investigators believe Martinez had a pattern of similar activities with babysitters and other females in the Monroe are. They say there are other victims, but they need them to come forward to pursue any further charges.
Martinez was a police officer in Monroe for 20 years and retired as a sergeant in 2009. Monroe Police Chief Tim Quenzer says Martinez retired in 2009 after learning he faced an internal investigation for separate allegations of domestic abuse.
He was a very personable type individual, and as the investigation will reveal, he played on that, said Chief Quenzer.
For some of his time with the Monroe Police Department, Martinez was a resource officer at Monroe Middle School and ran the DARE program there. The superform says Martinez used his position as an officer to manipulate those he was entrusted to protect.
In addition to being in charge of the school DARE program, Martinez also part of Protect a Child Today. The program, which a former member tells KING 5 was disbanded a few years ago due to lack of funding, preached the importance of protecting children from sexual predators. Martinez served on the Board of Directors for the program, and appeared in a promotional video dressed in uniform, warning parents to watch out for sexual predators.
Neighbors say Martinez is divorced, has two kids, and moved to San Antonio, Texas, to serve in the Army as a helicopter pilot after retiring from the Monroe Police Department in 2009. According to investigators, his victim, who by this time was an adult, moved with him.
The superform explains that investigators in Texas were originally tipped off by the victim, who says she was being physically abused, and served Martinez with a warrant on December 15, 2011. They recovered a laptop, hard drives, cameras and videos. The legal document says Martinez took video of the victim on the toilet and in the shower both before and after she was 18 years old.
Martinez has not been arrested. His first court appearance is August 6 where he faces charges of Child Molestation, Voyeurism, and Sexual Exploitation of a Minor; all are felonies.
Investigators say there are other victims out there and they are asking anyone with information to help with the investigation.
