EVERETT -- In the months since Carlos Martinez became the
subject of a Washington State Patrol investigation alleging he groomed an
underage girl for a sexual relationship and secretly videotaped their
encounters, the former Monroe police sergeant reportedly has lied to government
officials to get information about the young woman.
Last month, the state suspended Martinez's license to
practice as a private investigator after allegations surfaced that he attempted
"to locate and harass a witness so as to discourage the witness from
providing evidence in a legal action," according to court papers.
Martinez is targeting the young woman he also is accused of
molesting, starting a decade ago, according to prosecutors.
They allege that since April, Martinez has attempted to get
information from the National Park Service about the woman's whereabouts and
her relationships with instructors.
Now 24, she is pursuing a career as a park ranger. Martinez reportedly
told the officials with the Park Service that she was having an affair with one
of her instructors. His allegations caused the Park Service to launch an
internal investigation centered on her, Snohomish County deputy prosecutor Lisa
Paul wrote in charging papers filed in Superior Court.
The deputy prosecutor Friday charged Martinez, 58, with
numerous sex crimes, including child rape, molestation and voyeurism related to
allegations nearly a decade old.
Martinez is accused of instigating a sexual relationship in
2003, when the girl was 14.
He was the drug education officer for the girl's fourth- and
fifth-grade classes in Monroe. Prosecutors allege that he groomed the girl,
taking advantage of her sheltered upbringing and lack of friends outside of her
church. The girl's parents trusted Martinez and allowed their daughter to
babysit for his family, Paul wrote in a nine-page affidavit.
Martinez allegedly showered the shy girl with attention and
later engaged in sex with her at his home while his wife was out of town. She
told investigators the pair would sometimes have sex while Martinez was on
duty. He also reportedly rented motel rooms for them when the girl lived in
eastern Washington.
Martinez left the police department in 2009 because he was
about to be fired after being accused of assaulting his former wife. That same
year, Martinez separated from his wife and he moved to Texas with the girl he'd
been molesting for six years, prosecutors allege.
She went to police in Texas in 2011.
The Washington State Patrol began investigating Martinez in
March 2012 after it was contacted by an FBI task force based in San Antonio,
Texas. Martinez had been arrested there on suspicion of possessing child
pornography involving the same girl, but charges were never filed.
State Patrol detectives interviewed Martinez in October. He
insisted he didn't have sex with the girl until she was 18.
Police Chief Tim Quenzer has said the department was unaware
of the allegations involving the girl until the State Patrol investigation
began last year.
There is evidence that the girl tried to tell school
officials and a state social worker about the abuse. At 15, the girl told a
school counselor that Martinez's wife had accused her of having an affair. The
girl told the counselor that the police officer had been calling her. The
counselor told the girl that was inappropriate. The counselor reported that she
intended to follow up with the girl and her mother, but the family moved out of
the district.
The counselor shared her concerns with a state social
worker. The CPS worker allegedly was in a romantic relationship with Martinez,
according to State Patrol reports.