In a shocking admission, a young man from Ashland, Ohio has admitted to kidnapping and raping a six-year-old girl. According to the Mansfield News Journal , the man identified as 26-year-old Brock D. Martin, made the shocking admission at the Ashland County Common Pleas Court on Monday. According to the report, the incident dates back to August 2015. Martin has in his admission said that he pulled the girl out of her bedroom and raped her in the backyard of her own home. According to police officials, Brock D. Martin, of 815 Union St., pleaded guilty to six felony charges and also admitted to have been part of two other burglaries — one dating back to 2013. One of the burglaries was also sex-related, officials confirmed. Martin’s decision to plead guilty was part of a plea bargain.
On Monday, Martin pleaded guilty to one count of kidnapping, two counts of rape and one count of aggravated burglary. While he also pleaded guilty to a single second-degree felony count of attempted rape and burglary, as part of the plea agreement, the prosecution will drop one count of aggravated burglary, two counts of rape, a second-degree felony attempted kidnapping count and a fifth-degree charge of drug possession.
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Meanwhile, Ashland County Prosecutor Christopher Tunnell described how Martin committed the rape, which he said took place on August 18, 2015. On the day, Martin allegedly sneaked into a home in Ashland’s Orange Street, pushed a fan out of a window. He then managed to reach in and pulled a six-year-old girl out of her bed and raped her in the back yard. After the crime, he escaped into the nearby woods. After hearing the commotion, an adult resident who lived in the home came out, rescued the victim and called the police. A few hours after the incident, Martin was tracked and eventually arrested by the K-9 unit of the Ashland Police Department.
Following his arrest, Martin also confessed to two other unsolved crimes – one from August 2015 and the other dating back to March 2013. The 2013 incident reportedly took place on March 17 that year. Martin is accused of entering an Ashland residence around midnight and assaulting two 13-year-old girls. He also attempted to drag one of the girls out of the home – but was unable to do so after others intervened. As for the more recent incident, he also admitted to an Aug. 11, 2015, burglary that took place in the same neighborhood. In this incident, a woman reportedly woke up to find Martin standing over her bed. He was unable to steal anything and fled the scene as soon as he saw the woman’s husband come back home from work in the midst of the burglary attempt.
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Meanwhile, in an interview to local news channels, prosecutor Tunnell added that Martin had admitted that he was not familiar with any of his victims and that the attempts were all completely random. He also revealed that Martin had earlier pleaded innocent by reason of insanity to all counts in the indictment. His claim was, however, rejected by Judge Ron Forsthoefel after he underwent a competency evaluation test and was found to be mentally sound.
In sharp contrast to the eccentricity displayed by him in the midst of his criminal acts, Martin displayed a very calm demeanor inside the court. He quietly answered all the questions asked to him by authorities. When asked by the judge if Martin understood the charges, he said “Yes, your honor.” To be sure, the judge reminded him that he was waiving his right to a trial and agreeing to the prospect of life imprisonment without parole. If convicted, Martin would also have to pay $3,000 in restitution to his victims for their medical expenses.
The judge is expected to sentence Martin on December 19, a few weeks from now. Meanwhile, defense attorney Rolf Whitney has also called for a pre-sentencing investigation into Martin’s background.
[Featured Image by Ashland County Sheriff’s Office]