WEST CHESTER, PA — Marco Martinez-Garcia, 36, of Downingtown, PA, was convicted Friday of rape of a child, involuntary deviate sexual intercourse (IDSI), endangering the welfare of a child, and related charges for sexually abusing a child victim between the ages of 4-11 years old, announced the Chester County District Attorney’s Office. He will be sentenced at a later date.
“The defendant engaged in a horrific and depraved pattern of abuse of an innocent and vulnerable child. He isolated and manipulated the victim so that he would not tell others about these assaults. We are thankful to the Kennett Square Police Department for their thorough investigation, and to our prosecutors who got justice for the child victim,” says Chester County District Attorney Deb Ryan.
According to the prosecutors, on September 3, 2020, at approximately 2:09 p.m., an officer from the Kennett Square Police Department responded to an allegation made by an 11-year-old child. The victim’s mother reported her son disclosed that the defendant sexually abused him when he was between 4-10 years old and had been living at a residence in Kennett Square, Chester County, PA. In addition, he stated that the abuse occurred numerous times at the defendant’s residence in York County.
On September 21, 2020, a forensic interview was conducted at the Child Advocacy Center in York, PA. The victim stated that when he was around 8-9 years old, at his Kennett Square residence watching Transformers, the defendant went upstairs and told him to get on the bed and take off his pants and underwear. The child victim said that the defendant began to “spoon” the victim and touched his private areas. The defendant told him not to say anything about the incident because it was their “little secret.”
The child also described another incident at the Kennett Square residence when the defendant was placed in charge of watching the victim and another child. The child victim stated that the other child was downstairs watching television when the defendant asked the victim to come with him upstairs. The defendant told the victim to lay down on the bed, and then he told him to put his mouth on his genitals until he told him to stop. The child victim reported that the defendant made the victim kiss him on the mouth.
The abuse finally stopped after the child told his mother about it while they were watching an episode of Law and Order SVU.
The Kennett Square Police Department conducted the investigation which led to the successful prosecution of Martinez-Garcia. ADA Zachary Yurick and ADA Kaitlyn Michalek are the assigned prosecutors.
Call Childline at 1-800-932-0313 if you suspect a child is being abused.
For the latest news on everything happening in Chester County and the surrounding area, be sure to follow MyChesCo on Google News and Microsoft Start.