How Could You? Hall of Shame-Robert Martin

Robert Martin, 55, is being held in the Fresno County Jail without bail.

Assistant District Attorney Steve Wright says, “One of the children was molested between the ages of 9 and 13. One of the children was 10 and one of the children was five at the time.”

At his June 6th arraignment, Martin pleaded not guilty to four felony charges, with enhancements including continuous sexual abuse of a child under 14, forcible lewd acts upon a child, and sexual penetration by force.

Wright says, “We take these cases very seriously and we will continue to work with law enforcement to prosecute these individuals and hold them accountable to the fullest extent of the law.”

Courthouse documents detail the alleged abuse that went on for several years. Allegations started in 2013 when the first victim reported Martin sexually assaulted her, almost daily, over a four year period.

In 2015 a second victim came forward, saying she was raped by Martin when she was just five years old. Later that year a witness came forward to disclose a third victim. That victim did not give a statement until this year, where she said she was sexually molested by Martin.

In addition to seizing a number of electronic items, investigators state, during the warrant service, Martin voluntarily mentioned all of the victims and potential victims who accused him of sexual assault. They note he was never advised of who made the accusations.

Action News has learned that Martin recently owned a competitive cheer gym, but sold it when allegations first came out. It is now owned by the Clovis Unified School District.

Assistant District Attorney, Steve Wright says, “We don’t have any information that there are additional victims, however, we’re not ruling that out.”

Initially, Martin was being held on $560,000 bail, but it was at a bail reduction hearing that a judge deemed him a threat to public safety and remanded him without bail.

Martin’s next court appearance is June 20th.”

Clovis man who owned cheer gym arrested for molestation of foster children over several year period

[ABC 30 6/12/18 by Vanessa Vasconcelos]

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