Fugitive preacher who molested N.J. boy arrested in Honduras

By Mark Mueller
NJ.com
August 21, 2016

http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2016/08/fugitive_preacher_who_molested_nj_boy_arrested_in.html

Jersey City resident Paula Martinez, center, prays during the birthday celebration for New Jersey fugitive Gregorio Martinez, no relation, in Esteli, Nicaragua, in November 2015. At left is her son, Kelvin, also of Jersey City. The pair told NJ Advance Media they did not know where Gregorio Martinez had been in hiding.

Kelvin Martinez, left, poses with Gregorio Martinez at the convicted child molester's birthday party in Esteli, Nicaragua, in November. Kelvin Martinez lives in Jersey City with his mother, Paula. The two have denied knowing the whereabouts of Gregorio Martinez, a fugitive from New Jersey for more than a year.

7 / 9 Fugitive Gregorio Martinez, center, poses with Erving Matute, right, and Santos Matute, left, at Martinez's birth party in Esteli, Nicaragua, in November 2015. Erving Matute told NJ Advance Media he drove Martinez to the airport in Managua on Feb. 1, 2016, but did not know his destination. Martinez, wanted in New Jersey, remains at large.

An evangelical preacher who has been on the run since a jury convicted him last year of sexually assaulting a 13-year-old boy has been arrested in Central America, the Hudson County Prosecutor's Office said Sunday.

Gregorio Martinez, whose flight from justice was chronicled in a special report by NJ Advance Media this spring, was detained in Danli, Honduras, on Tuesday, Prosecutor Esther Suarez said in a statement.

Few details were immediately available, but Suarez said Honduran police made the arrest. The U.S. Marshals Service and the FBI had been involved in the hunt for Martinez. It was not clear if representatives of either agency were present when the fugitive was detained.

In February of last year, a jury took less than 30 minutes to convict Martinez of aggravated criminal sexual contact, child abuse and endangering the welfare of a child. Free on $250,000 bail, the Jersey City resident failed to appear for a pre-sentencing review weeks later. 

During the trial, Martinez was charged with sexually assaulting a 19-year-old man. After his conviction, authorities charged him with sex crimes against two other men, also 19. Martinez knew the 13-year-old boy and the three alleged victims through churches in Hudson County.

"This was a tremendous effort by our dedicated detectives and prosecutors, who persisted with this case by following a money trail until Gregorio Martinez was detained Tuesday night inHonduras," Suarez said. "This investigation involved the teamwork of several law enforcement partners and we are appreciative of the tenacious effort and dedication which led to his apprehension."

The prosecutor said her office would be "exploring all options" to return Martinez to New Jersey, where he would face sentencing for the molestation conviction and stand trial on the charges related to the three other teens.

NJ Advance Media had traced Martinez this spring to Estelí, Nicaragua, where he had been living in a church compound. He is now accused by a parishioner of molesting a teenage boy there as well.

The news organization's report kick-started the stalled criminal investigation, leading authorities to renew their search.

Martinez, a native of the Dominican Republic, had jumped from church to church in Hudson County's Latino Pentecostal community. At the time of the sexual assault, he was a deacon at Third Bethesda Pentecostal Church in Union City.

He later served as co-pastor of Elohim Christian Church in Jersey City. Martinez's father, Arturo, now serves as pastor there.

Two of Martinez's close friends, a mother and son, knew the preacher was in Nicaragua but did not tell authorities. Jersey City residents Paula Martinez and Kelvin Martinez, who are not related to Gregorio Martinez, attended a lavish birthday party for the fugitive in Estelí last November, according to people who were present.

One attendee provided NJ Advance Media with photographs of the pair at the event.

The pastor of the church where Martinez had been staying in Nicaragua said he was unaware of the man's past and that he had received a letter of recommendation for Martinez from a New Jersey pastor associated with the Assemblies of God, the world's largest Pentecostal denomination.

That pastor, Verardo Acosta, acknowledged writing the letter after Martinez's conviction but said he did not know about the criminal case.

Martinez is believed to have left Estelí Feb. 1. Authorities have yet to say how he crossed into Honduras, Nicaragua's northern neighbor. Estelí is about 60 miles from the Honduran border and about 85 miles from Danli, where Martinez was detained.

While the United States has an extradition treaty with Honduras, it wasn't immediately clear Sunday how easily or quickly Martinez might be returned to New Jersey. All extradition requests are funneled through the U.S. State Department.

Martinez had faced up to five years in prison for the molestation conviction. He could now face additional charges for fleeing.