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On Thursday, April 1st, 2021, 34-year-old John David Martinez was sentenced to life in prison after he was convicted of enticing his 11-year-old relative.

Back in July 2018, it's said that Martinez started a conversation with the victim over a text messaging service, and over the course of just one month around 7,700 messages were exchanged. During this time period, the Northern District of Texas said that Martinez bullied the child into agreeing to have sex with him.

"You wanna have sex with me?" asked Martinez in one text message. Another text said: "This stays between us."

The child's babysitter eventually noticed these messages and immediately told the parents and police.

Martinez was convicted of Enticement of a Minor in December 2019. The jury only deliberated for 15 minutes before returning the guilty verdict, according to the Northern District of Texas.

"This defendant took full advantage of a minor through a series disturbing actions [...] His admissions provide alarming insight into the methods he used to entice a young child for his own criminal gratification," said acting US Attorney Prerak Shah. "Today's sentence is the only way to guarantee that he will never again harm children."

FBI Dallas Special Agent in Charge Matthew DeSarno called Martinez a "dangerous predator."

"We applaud the quick action of the child’s caregiver to notify law enforcement of Mr. Martinez’s reprehensible conduct [...]," DeSarno said. "Today’s sentence reflects the heinous nature of the crimes committed by Mr. Martinez and removes this dangerous predator from our community. We will continue working with our partners to protect children and hold offenders accountable for their crimes."

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