A Denver jury is deciding the fate of a former educator accused of sexually abusing two boys. His hiring led to the resignation of Albuquerque’s school superintendent.
Jurors began deliberations Wednesday in the case against Jason Martinez. The longtime school administrator was arrested in the sex-abuse case in 2013 and later hired in Albuquerque to head the troubled school district’s instruction and technology division. School officials never completed a background check on him.
Prosecutors said Martinez abused the boys during visits to his Denver home and on trips. Martinez, a former Denver schools employee, was a longtime friend of the boys’ families. He adopted one boy’s father when he was abandoned as a child.
The families had come to trust him, said Maggie Conboy, chief deputy district attorney, during closing arguments.
“His facade was his reputation. Respected educator. Grandad. And look at him,” Conboy said, pointing to Martinez, sitting at the defense table in a suit and tie.
