LUBBOCK, Texas — A Shallowater man was convicted Wednesday of enticement and attempted enticement of a minor, according to a release by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Texas.
John David Martinez, 32, was indicted in August. A federal jury deliberated for just 15 minutes before finding him guilty.
According to the release, Martinez bullied his niece, an 11-year-old girl, into agreeing to have sex with him in a text chain initiated in July 2018.
A babysitter spotted the messages and law enforcement intervened before Martinez could molest the girl.
Martinez faces a potential sentence of life in prison. A sentencing date has not been set.
Martinez was arrested in July for a separate incident and accused by the Lubbock County Sheriff’s Department of trying to kidnap a 9-year-old girl.
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Read the full statement by the U.S. Attorney’s Office below:
A Shallowater, Texas man was convicted today of enticement and attempted enticement of a minor following an investigation by the FBI’s Lubbock Resident Agency, announced U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Texas Erin Nealy Cox.
John David Martinez, 32, was indicted in August. Following a day and a half of trial, a federal jury deliberated for just 15 minutes before finding him guilty.
According to evidence presented at trial, Mr. Martinez initiated a text chain with his 11-year-old niece in July 2018.
Over the course of 7,702 text messages, he bullied the young girl into agreeing to have sex with her then 31-year-old uncle.
Fortunately, the child’s babysitter spotted the messages on her phone, and law enforcement was able to intervene before Mr. Martinez could actually molest the child.
The defendant now faces a potential sentence of up to life in federal prison. His sentencing date has not yet been set.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation, Shallowater Police Department, and Lubbock County Sheriff’s Department conducted the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Callie Woolam and Sean Long are prosecuting the case. U.S. District Judge James Wesley Hendrix presided over the trial.
