Carson City man accused of sexual assault is bound over on eight charges

The preliminary hearing for Drake Martin concluded Thursday with Martin being bound on all eight charges.

Martin was charged with one count of sexual assault against a child under the age of 14 and three counts of sexual assault against a child under 16 for having sex with a minor between December 2014 and February 2015. There are four other charges against Martin.

The preliminary hearing was originally set for May 18, however due to lack of time, it was recessed to Thursday. The first portion of the hearing on May 18, concluded with a two-hour long testimony from the female victim in which she claimed the sexual abuse had been continuing for seven years. At the moment, though, Martin is being charged on only the four most recent events.

Thursday’s hearing began with the prosecution calling Carson City Sheriff’s Office Det. Sal Acosta, the lead investigator on the case. He testified in his interviews with Martin and the victim, their stories matched up, though Martin claimed all of the sexual intercourse was consensual between the two.

The defense attempted to question the victim’s credibility by asking Acosta to try to determine whether there was a history of mental instability, lying, and theft, however Acosta could not validate any of those claims.

After Acosta’s testimony, the defense gave their closing remarks asking the judge to reduce the charges to just one of the other sexual charges against Martin, due to the fact “no sexual assault occurred” because it “seemed like the relationship was consensual.”

Judge Joel Locke, however, disagreed with the defense and decided to bound over Martin on all eight counts. Martin’s arraignment hearing is scheduled for June 15.