A Texas man has been charged with sexually assaulting his 17-year-old daughter after she left a dead baby in a Walmart restroom last week.
Police say the girl told investigators that Jerry Lee Martinez, 45, began “touching her inappropriately” when she was 15 years old and raped her, KIII reported. She told them that Martinez was the father of her baby and that he took her to Mexico last Monday for an abortion. She said the baby was stilborn when she left it in the Walmart bathroom that day.
She also told investigators that her father punched her in the stomach on multiple occasions when he learned she was pregnant.
Police reviewed surveillance video after Walmart employees found the dead baby and spotted the girl getting into a vehicle in the parking lot. They later found the vehicle and conducted a traffic stop. Martinez and his daughter were inside.
Martinez was initially charged with child endangerment, tampering with a witness, and tampering with evidence. On Friday, San Patricio District Atorney Marjorie Silva confirmed the sexual assault on a child charge. A $1 million bond has been added to his initial $300,000 bond, KRIS reported.
Should he make the bond, he is ordered to have no contact with his family, including the victim, or witnesses.
Police said last week that Martinez’s stepfather, 60-year-old Mario Duran, had also been arrested, although they didn’t say if it was connected with the child rape investigation. His bond was set at $300,000.
The daughter is in a “secure location,” police said.
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[Featured image: Jerry Lee Martinez/Kleberg County Jail]
