Mugshot credit Sunnyvale Department of Public Safety
On Monday, 59-year-old Richard Jeffrey Martinez was arrested in connection with a 1996 sexual assault of a 7-year-old victim in the Cherry Orchard neighborhood of Sunnyvale, Calif.
At the time, the Sunnyvale Department of Public Safety Detectives vigorously investigated all potential leads and trace evidence, but the case went unsolved with the suspect being unidentified for nearly three decades.
In 2022, Sunnyvale Department of Public Safety Detectives began collaborating with the Santa Clara County District Attorney's Cold Case Unit on the case. Through the use of forensic genealogy and an extensive follow up investigation, Martinez was identified as the suspect in the sexual assault.
Sunnyvale Department of Public Safety Detectives located and arrested Martinez at his current place of residence in San Jose, CA.
Since his arrest, detectives have identified two additional victims that were sexually assaulted by Martinez when they were juveniles. It is believed there could be more who are not yet known. These investigations are still active.
Anyone with additional information about these cases are asked to contact Department of Public Safety Detective Matthew Hutchison at 408-730-7100.
The Sunnyvale Department of Public Safety would like to thank the Santa Clara County District Attorney's Office Cold Case Unit, Crime Lab and the San Jose Police Department Sexual Assault Investigations Unit for their support. We'd like to thank the California Department of Justice Laboratory for conducting DNA analysis, and the U.S. Department of Justice for funding the forensic genealogy work.
Republished courtesy of Sunnyvale Department of Public Safety