A man who worked as a school janitor and was accused of molesting multiple students has been released from custody after he was acquitted on all charges.
Pedro Martinez, 50, of Hesperia, was arrested by San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department deputies in January 2019 on allegations that he molested a 6-year-old boy at Maple Elementary School where he worked.
At the time of his arrest, investigators said they found additional victims who corroborated the first victim’s claim. They also said there may be other victims who had not yet come forward.
Martinez was ultimately charged with 11 counts of child sex abuse, and he was held in custody since his arrest. His trial, which was delayed multiple times due to the COVID-19 pandemic and on request by the San Bernardino County District Attorney’s Office, began in August.
The trial was held in the Joshua Tree District over the course of more than three months. On Monday, nearly five years after his arrest, Martinez was acquitted on 10 of the charges, with the 11th being dismissed mid-trial.
Following his acquittal, Martinez’s lawyers issued a news release in which they championed the results, and called into question “false accusations, law enforcement missteps, and limited evidence” that led to his arrest.
Attorney Ian Wallach identified an accuser as a “mentally ill woman” who was dating one of the boys’ mother’s at the time. He alleged that she made the claims against Martinez to deflect from accusations that she herself had repeatedly abused a child.
Wallach also accused a San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department deputy of not following proper protocol when investigating claims of abuse including interviewing the woman who made the claim rather than the child who was identified as the initial victim.
Wallach also alleged that the deputy interviewed other children who all denied claims of abuse. That same deputy then questioned a 6-year-old child with “leading and suggestive questions,” Wallach said.
“The child continued to deny that abuse happened, but ultimately acquiesced and provided answers that, although nonsensical, suggested abuse occurred,” Wallach said, adding that the statements the child provided did not match with those made by the initial accuser.
Martinez’s attorneys said that single confession was the extent of the evidence levied against the school employee.
Interviews with school employees taken after the fact appeared to indicate that the abuse couldn’t have happened on school grounds, with those interviewed calling Martinez a “man of good character.”
Forensic testing, DNA analysis and sexual assault forensic exams also returned negative results, the defense said.
Katherine McBroom, co-counsel for the defense, referred to the case as a “witch hunt,” accusing law enforcement of acting in the interest of self-preservation, rather than the pursuit of justice.
“Martinez waited five years for a level-headed evaluation of this case and the jury delivered,” McBroom said. “It is chilling that with such a stark lack of corroborating evidence, law enforcement pressed forward, labeling an innocent man a ‘monster’ and endorsing the rantings of a clearly troubled woman.”
Both Wallach and McBroom contend that the Sheriff’s Department “failed multiple children, failed Mr. Martinez, and failed the Hesperia community.”
The Hesperia Unified School District, which employed Martinez for more than a decade prior to his arrest, said it was grateful that Martinez would be able to return to his family after five years in custody.
Superintendent David Olney said the district would not be commenting on the credibility of the allegations due to an ongoing civil suit, but said the school district maintains that it was not negligent when handling the reports of the abuse.
“The safety of all students is important for the Hesperia Unified School District to carry out its
mission of providing excellence in education. As a result, the Hesperia Unified School District
takes all accusations of abuse seriously,” Olney said.
When reached for comment regarding Martinez’s acquittal, a spokesperson for the San Bernardino County District Attorney’s Office provided a brief statement that reads: “Although the outcome was not what we were seeking, we want to thank the members of the jury for their time and consideration.”
The Sheriff’s Department told KTLA it would not commenting on the case.
Martinez was released from custody and returned to his family on Monday.
“Justice, although delayed, was indeed served,” McBroom concluded.
Editor’s note: KTLA has opted not to name the accuser nor the deputy whom was identified by the defense in the case, because neither has been charged or formally identified beyond the release issued Monday.