POLK COUNTY, FLA. – On June 15, 2021, 24-year-old Eduardo Martinez of California was arrested for four counts of Transmitting Harmful Material to a Minor and eight counts of Using a Computer to Lure a Child .
In May of this year, the victim’s mother reported to the school resource deputy at her 12-year-old daughter’s school that she had discovered nude and sexually explicit photos and videos on her daughter’s cell phone. She also found sexually explicit SnapChat messages between her daughter and an unknown man. The school resource deputy turned the information over to the Polk County Sheriff’s Office Computer Crimes Unit.
Detectives conducted a forensic search of the victim’s phone and discovered a pattern of sexual grooming, including SnapChat messages where the suspect asked the victim to send him images and videos of her performing sexually exploitive acts, to which the victim complied. Detectives also found a conversation between the suspect and the victim where the suspect told the victim that he wanted to get her pregnant. The victim replied to the suspect that she was 15-years-old and did not want to be pregnant. The suspect then responded, “Idc you are a baby. I want a baby.”
Detectives found multiple text messages where the victim referred to the suspect as Eduardo. Also found were a nude photo of an adult male and a photo of a Hispanic male with dark short hair.
During the investigation, using investigative resources, detectives identified the suspect as Eduardo Martinez of Red Bluff, California. A Polk County warrant was obtained. PCSO detectives contacted the Red Bluff Police Department who assisted by arresting Martinez.
When interviewed, Martinez told Red Bluff detectives he did send the victim sexually explicit videos and images. He also told detectives there will be “hundreds” of sexually explicit images and videos of the victim on his phone, along with similar videos and images of other underage girls with whom he had also been communicating. He told detectives that he moved to Red Bluff from Oregon in January of this year for a “fresh start.”
“I can’t say this often enough: Predators are lurking online and on apps looking for children to groom for sex. This is why it is so important for parents to make it their business to check their child’s electronic devices often. Because this mother checked her daughter’s phone and told law enforcement, a predator was stopped before something worse could happen. As far as this sexually deviant creep in California, he will be held accountable for his despicable behavior.” – Grady Judd, Sheriff
Martinez was booked into the Tehama County Jail in California on the Polk County warrant and is being held with no bond. He will be extradited to Polk County at a later date.
This investigation is ongoing.
