Jury finds local man guilty of lewd conduct with minor

BONNERS FERRY — A jury found a local man guilty July 13 of lewd conduct with a minor under the age of 16.

The verdict was the culmination of a trial which took three years to happen, as it was rescheduled multiple times due to COVID-19 and other circumstances. The jury found Vernon “Dave” David Judson Martin, 62, guilty of the charges of lewd conduct against a 9-year-old, a felony.

A criminal complaint was first filed in December 2019 by Boundary County Chief Deputy Prosecutor Tevis Hull charging Martin with lewd conduct upon the body of a then-9-year-old between January and February 2019.

An arrest warrant was issued on Dec. 17, 2019, with bond set at $75,000. Martin pled not guilty on Dec. 24, 2019, requested a jury trial and waived his right to a speedy preliminary hearing.

Martin was released April 23, 2020, after being in jail since December 2019. He waived his preliminary hearing, which moved the court to district court without prosecution having to provide evidence in the case.

The Herald does not name the victims of sexual assault.

Day one of the trial, the state called three witnesses.

Taking the stand, the victim’s mother said she noticed the girl started wetting the bed despite being 9 years old. Since taking a parenting class, she believed that children who suddenly begin wetting the bed may have been abused.

Public defender Catherine Enright objected to the claim, saying the mother was not an expert witness regarding child development or abuse.

The mother then said she took her two children aside and asked if anyone had touched them inappropriately in their “privates.”

“[Victim’s name] began to sob uncontrollably,” the victim’s mother said, stating that Martin had touched her.

When asked by the prosecution what she did next, the mother said “I calmly walked to my safe and began loading my shotgun.” She added that she planned to kill Martin, but that she did not directly tell her daughter.

Worried their mother would harm Martin, the victim recanted her story.

The next witness called was the paternal grandfather of the victim, who came to live with him and his family outside Boundary County in 2019. At that time there was an incident where the victim was seen on a baby monitor putting her hands into the diaper of a younger relative.

“I heard [the toddler] say ‘stop, don’t” as they were in the room together,” the grandfather said. He then checked the baby monitor and saw what was happening. He then separated the two and talked to the youth, who disclosed the abuse.

The next morning he called the Bonners Ferry Police Department.

The victim took the stand, she was already in tears. On the day of the incident, she was working on a scouting badge and was washing the family dogs with Martin’s help.

After finishing, the victim asked Martin to leave the bathroom so she could bathe and get cleaned up. Once she was in the tub washing off, the victim said Martin returned to the bathroom and said he was going to help her wash. He then cupped his hand and touched her in the “privates.”

The victim, now 13, cried for several minutes on the stand as she had to explain the situation.

The jury was sent out of the courtroom, as was the victim as prosecution and the defense discussed potential questions with District Judge Lamont C. Berecz.

The defense wanted to argue that the victim had been through several other traumas in her life, such as the death of her father, which may have contributed to the accusation against Martin.

However, the victim denied that contention when asked by Hull. The youth said their father died before they became acquainted with Martin and that “nothing would make me, make this up.”

To wrap up the trial’s first day, the jury was shown a video of a forensic interview with the victim.

The jury watched nearly an hour of footage, as the victim was questioned about what happened. When discussing the incident with the toddler relative she was verbal, but quiet, like a child in trouble. When the conversation went to the incident in the bathtub, the child moved to non-verbal communication. When the interviewer misinterpreted something, the victim hit the table with a marker to emphasize something.

Witnesses on the trial’s second day included Bonners Ferry Police Department Assistant Chief Marty Ryan, who investigated the case.

After watching the victim’s interview, Ryan scheduled a meeting with Martin at the police station. He relayed the victim’s comments and provided the victim's drawings depicting the incident.

Ryan said Martin told him he was only “brushing” the victim off due to the amount of dog hair.

He said the man further told him he claimed he had a 24/7 defensive mechanism that prevents him from touching kids but claimed that he “might” have touched her “unintentionally” while trying to remove the dog hair from her legs and back.

Ryan went on to say that during the interview Martin said he was dying of cancer and what good would it do the victim, “I’d put a bullet in my head before going to jail.”

Enright said her client merely meant he would rather put a bullet in his head then go to jail for something he didn’t do and that Ryan wanted him to “hang himself by confessing and none of this was intentional.”

She questioned the investigation, saying Ryan hadn’t interviewed anyone else who had been at the house that day. Ryan answered that was because Martin not providing anyone to collaborate his story and because he did not deny the incident.

The defense also denied that Martin ever told the victim that it would be “our little secret.”

Hull, for the state, argued that the accused did not outright deny the allegations, but said it was possible.

The defense argued the state failed to prove Martin was guilty.

The defense called another relative of the victim to the stand, who was in a romantic relationship with Martin. She testified she was just a few feet away during the dog bathing and that nothing had happened between Martin and the victim.

On cross examination, the woman said the victim would not have needed help bathing and denied Martin was attracted to the victim.

“No, because that would be creepy,” she said. “[…] He wouldn’t be here if I saw that he did something to [victim’s name].”

He then asked if this was the first time she was hearing that Martin confessed to BFPD Assistant Chief Marty Ryan, that he went back into the bathroom with the victim and helped brush her off. She said she had never been told that.

Martin then took the stand, testifying that when the victim asked him to leave so she could take a shower, he left the bathroom and did not return, contradicting his interview with Ryan.

During cross examination, Hull asked Martin why he had a defense mechanism for being alone with a child.

“It would be wrong to be aroused with a child,” Martin said.

In closing arguments, Hull said when the victim first came forward she didn’t have the words to explain what happened, but knew what had happened was wrong. Now, four years later they are more articulate and the most important things in the story are consistent.

“This is a young child trying to deal with an adult issue,” he said.

He said Martin hiding his attraction to the victim was common sense, and that his return to the bathroom was a choice to get closer to the victim.

In closing, the defense argued the victim’s story was inconsistent, and lacked details such as who was in the house at the time of the incident.

“It’s hard to prove you didn’t do something,” Enright said. “Mr. Martin doesn’t have to prove anything, the state and Mr. Hull has to prove it.”

“There is no question touching happened,” she said, but noted the intent was not to gratify sexual desire but to help the victim get dog hair off her body.

She further questioned whether law enforcement had conducted a thorough investigation, saying her client was consistent in his denials and that law enforcement took his statements of possibly touching the victim out of context.

After nearly two and a half hours of deliberations, the jury unanimously found Martin guilty of the lewd conduct.

Martin’s prior criminal history includes one count of sodomy, and three counts of sexual abuse, all from April 1992 in Lincoln County, Oregon. He will be sentenced on Oct. 6 at 11 a.m.

A sentence of lewd conduct with a minor under 16 can result in life imprisonment in the state of Idaho.

In Idaho, there is no statute of limitations for cases involving the sexual abuse of minors. More information can be found at rainn.org or by calling 800-656-HOPE (4673). Local resources include Boundary County Victim Services at 208-267-5211, and Boundary County Sheriff’s Office at 208-267-3151. All agencies listed can be reached 24/7. BCVS is available to assist victims of all types of crime.