ODESSA, Texas (KMID/KPEJ)- An Odessa man was arrested Sunday following a months-long investigation after an 11-year-old girl made an outcry of sexual abuse. Luiz Martinez, 55, has been charged with Aggravated Sexual Assault of a Child. 

According to an Odessa Police Department report, the investigation began on August 5 when the child told another person in her home that she “couldn’t be here anymore”; soon after making that comment, the little girl was reportedly found in a bathroom with a bottle of sleeping pills next to her. Shortly after, the child said she’d reacted in that way because Martinez had touched her face and had been touching her in other ways, and sexually assaulting her, for nearly a year. 

During a forensic interview, the little girl said that Martinez had asked her to meet him in a shed in June of 2022; once inside the shed, the child said Martinez removed her clothes and began sodomizing her. The child said the assault lasted until another adult called her name, allowing her to get away.

The 11-year-old said that since that assault, Martinez had been repeatedly kissing her neck and trying to get close to her by touching her shoulders. The little girl said that Martinez told her not to tell anyone about the alleged assault because they would call the police and he could go to jail. 

The little girl’s sister was also interviewed and said that she’d witnessed Martinez getting physically close with her sister on multiple occasions and that she’d also seen Martinez kissing her sister’s neck. Through those interviews, investigators also learned that Martinez had been investigated by the police for a similar incident with another child in the past. 

On August 24, the 11-year-old was examined by a sexual assault nurse who reportedly found signs of trauma.

Further investigation led OPD to Martinez’s phone and a search warrant was issued to allow investigators to look at the contents which reportedly revealed “alarming” Google searches involving sex acts with children. Investigators said they also found nude photos of Martinez on the phone and photos of the other child he’d once been accused of assaulting. 

In an interview with the police, Martinez reportedly provided vague answers, conflicting accounts of events, and then said he could not remember any of the incident in which he’d been accused. Martinez was arrested on November 5 and remained in the Ector County Law Enforcement Center as of Monday afternoon on a $75,000 bond.