Chama man indicted on child sex abuse charges

Accused denies allegations of rape, assault made by eight children, most from his family

A Rio Arriba County grand jury has indicted a Chama man on multiple felony counts of criminal sexual contact and criminal sexual penetration based on allegations that he molested eight children, mostly relatives, between 2012 and 2015.

According to a New Mexico State Police report, the children said they had told several adults over the years about rapes and assaults by Steven Martinez, but nothing was ever done to address or prevent the abuse.

One parent told police he had reported an incident involving Martinez to the Rio Arriba County Sheriff ’s Office, but nothing came of the report, and a child involved in the case said his family had moved to another town to get away from Martinez.

Reached by telephone Thursday at his father’s home in Bloomfield, Martinez, 28, said the allegations are “not true.”

An affidavit for an arrest warrant says state police investigators have interviewed six of the eight children in the case, all of whom told similar stories of Martinez touching their unclothed bodies and forcing them to touch his penis when they were between the ages of 5 and 8.

One girl said Martinez entered a bathroom while she was showering and touched her body. He offered her $5 to perform oral sex on him, she said. Another said Martinez threatened to kill her if she told anyone about the abuse. A boy said Martinez would cover his mouth when he tried to call out for help.

Two of the children accused Martinez of assaulting them by putting his mouth on their genitals.

“I felt like crying,” one of the children told police, the affidavit says.

According to reports, police believe most of the assaults occurred when Martinez — or a relative of the children who lived with Martinez — was baby-sitting.

The affidavit indicates some of Martinez’s victims were siblings who told investigators Martinez had violated them multiple times.

One boy said Martinez had molested him and his sister at the same time, according to a report.

A girl told police she had told her sister to “pretend it never happened.”

When asked by police to describe his relationship with Martinez, one accuser, who is now teenager, said Martinez is “dead to me.”

The teen told investigators the sexual assaults made him feel “disgusted with myself.”

When asked in the brief phone interview Thursday if he thought the children were lying about the sexual assaults, Martinez said yes.

Asked why the children would lie, he said, “Beats me,” and declined to answer further questions.

The affidavit says at least two of the children accusing Martinez of assault are now in state custody.

One of them told police Martinez had tried to enter her and her sister’s bedroom through a window once, prompting them to run to a neighbor’s house. They told the neighbor what the man had done to them, the girl said, but the woman did not believe them and did not tell their mother.

The same girl told police their mother dated Martinez. She tried to tell her mother about the abuse, the child said, but her mother didn’t believe her.

Martinez was arrested on the charges Aug. 17 and was held in the Rio Arriba County jail until Sept. 24, when he was released to his father’s care in Bloomfield after state District Judge Jason Lidyard denied a motion by prosecutors to have Martinez held in jail until his trial.

According to the conditions of his release, Martinez is on house arrest and is prohibited from any contact with children while he awaits trial.

Martinez is charged with 10 counts of criminal sexual contact of a minor, four counts of criminal sexual penetration of a child under the age of 13, one count of child enticement, one count of contributing to the delinquency of a minor and one count of aggravated indecent exposure.

If convicted on all counts and handed the maximum penalties, Martinez could be sentenced to more than 100 years in prison.