EVERETT — A young woman repeatedly broke into tears Tuesday as she offered often inconsistent testimony about how she wound up regularly engaging in sex with a former Monroe police sergeant she met while a 10-year-old student in his drug-abuse resistance class.
Now 26, it was her third day telling a Snohomish County jury about her connection to Carlos Alberto Martinez.
Martinez, 61, earned her trust, encouraged her affection and then began to engage her in sexual conduct in her early teens, she testified. When that began in 2004, she was working as a babysitter for Martinez’s elementary school-aged children.
But under close questioning from Martinez’s lawyer, Everett defense attorney Mark Mestel, the woman also acknowledged she told investigators in two states differing accounts about exactly when and how sexual activity occurred with Martinez.
She also admitted sending Martinez emails from a spoof account where she attempted to pass herself off as a man and falsely claiming to have lived for a time in California under the care of celebrity addiction specialist Dr. Drew Pinsky.
At one point Tuesday, Mestel asked the woman to reconcile inconsistencies in her testimony.
Was she 15 or 18 when she and Martinez engaged in sex in his barn, with him photographing the event?
She couldn’t remember, she testified, but not because the incident didn’t occur.
“What Carlos and I had was a relationship so sexual — so many pictures and videos — that it is hard for me to recall exactly,” she said.
Jurors have heard testimony that Martinez was a constant in her life for much of a decade — something Mestel has said his client does not deny.
It began when Martinez taught a class in her elementary school aimed at helping kids resist drugs and make other good choices. He later hired her as a babysitter and had her also do chores around his home.
They remained in touch by email after Martinez’s wife ordered the girl, then 15, to stay away after finding a love note she had written her husband. Martinez visited her in Eastern Washington after her family moved there when she was in high school.
When Martinez’ marriage broke apart in 2009, the young woman moved to Texas to live with him as his girlfriend. That ended in 2011 when she called police and investigations were launched.
Among the evidence gathered up were video recordings made in 2004 that showed the then-15-year-old taking a shower in Martinez’s Monroe home.
The defense concedes Martinez secretly recorded the video, but maintains his motivation was to see whether the teen had been cutting herself — something she claimed to be doing in response to challenges in her life.
Paul alleges the videotaping was a crime because the girl was unaware Martinez was recording and he made the recording for his sexual gratification.
She’s charged him with voyeurism and possession of depictions of a minor engaged in sexually explicit conduct, both felonies.
The young woman told jurors she had no idea Martinez had made those recordings until he showed them to her one night in Texas. He touched himself sexually as they watched. She testified she was disgusted and sought police assistance in ending the link to Martinez.
She said that while in Monroe as a child she had told nobody about the sexual contact. After being banished from the Martinez home by his wife, however, she was “confused, saddened and angered” and went to her school guidance counselor, seeking help.
She didn’t tell the woman that the connection to Martinez had become sexual, but that it was improper, she said.
The counselor scolded her, she said, and advised her that nobody believes a person who is known for crying wolf.
Scott North: 425-339-3431; north@heraldnet.com. Twitter: @snorthnews
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