Molester Martinez gets life following conviction of 20 felony sex crimes

Nine consecutive life sentences make it unlikely convicted sex offender will ever go free
Barring the unlikely possibility that he will be pardoned, or an act of God intervenes, it is a sure bet that Edward Martinez will die in prison. The 53-year-old Waynesville man, who was convicted of 20 felony sex crimes, on Sept. 27, 2024, was sentenced to multiple prison terms, including nine life sentences.
Martinez’s sentences
According to online court records, Judge T. Myers, who presided over the trial, sentenced Martinez according to the jury’s recommendations. The sentences were the maximum for each count, and Martinez was ordered to serve them consecutively.
Case background
Martinez was originally arrested in August of 2021, in an incident where he moved into a Republic residence with a woman who lived with her 12-year-old son and her two granddaughters, one of whom was under the age of 12 at the time, and the other under the age of six. The woman’s son told police he saw Martinez perform a sex act on the older girl. The older girl told police what Martinez had done to her and also said he did the same thing to her younger sister. One of the girls also said that two of her friends told her that Martinez did similar things to them.
According to a press release from Dan Patterson, Greene County prosecuting attorney, the crimes Martinez was convicted of involved sexually abusing six underage girls when they were between the ages of four to 11. According to the probable cause statement in the case, a total of 13 people who said Martinez sexually abused them were contacted; 11 of those were juveniles at the time of the abuse.
As of press time, Martinez remained in the Greene County Jail, where he has been held since Aug. 26, 2021, pending his transfer to the Missouri Department of Corrections. At the time of his arrest, he expressed confidence that he would be out of the jail in 24 hours.
Martinez is appealing his conviction.