Abuser sent to prison despite victims' pleas

PROVO — Despite being sexually abused over and over by Julio Martinez-Agustin, three of his victims begged 4th District Court Judge Anthony Schofield Wednesday to set the man free.

Instead, Schofield sentenced the Guatemala native to spend possibly the rest of his life in prison.

"I happen to be a person who believes in principles of forgiveness and repentance," Schofield said. "However, I am also a person who believes that certain laws must be upheld."

According to prosecutors, Martinez-Agustin raped and sodomized four female relatives in his home between 1999 and 2001. Court records indicate that he considered some of the abuse to be "teaching about sex through physical demonstrations."

"I know that he tried to teach us in his way," said a 20-year-old woman. "It affected us, but I don't think that much because I have forgiven him already."

Two other victims testified that they have also forgiven Martinez-Agustin and begged Schofield to deport him to Guatemala, where the family has some property that could be maintained by the 50-year-old.

"In my religion, they tell us to forgive everything," an 18-year-old victim stated. "I just know that everything has a consequence and he is paying his."

Prosecutor Donna Kelly, however, told the court that Martinez-Agustin has expressed little remorse for his crimes and little interest in rehabilitation.

"There will be others in the future," Kelly said.

Though she said she respected the victims' "desire to forgive," Kelly pushed for the maximum sentence possible due to the "severity" of Martinez-Agustin's crimes.

"These are the crimes for which we have prisons," Kelly said. "The charges he has pled to are really a drop in an ocean."

In September, Martinez-Agustin entered a plea agreement, which dropped seven of the 11 first-degree felony charges filed against him. Two of the remaining four counts were also reduced to second-degree felonies.

Schofield sentenced Martinez-Agustin on the remaining four counts — recommending Martinez-Agustin serve two 3-years-to-life sentences consecutively with two sentences of 5-to-15 years.

Upon sentencing, Martinez-Agustin, his victims and his family began crying — marking the end of a case that seemed to have no winners.

"I find myself repentant and hurt," Martinez wrote in his statement. "I know and feel I need to make many adjustments to once again win the trust and confidence of my family and myself."

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E-mail: lwarner@desnews.com

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