Man convicted of sexually abusing his friends’ kids gets 9 life sentences in Missouri

A man convicted of sexually abusing six girls, whose ages range from 4 to 11, will spend the rest of his life in prison.

Edward Martinez, who in September was convicted of 20 felony charges, received nine life sentences in prison during his Jan. 9 sentencing in Greene County, according to court records.

“This is a case that some of these victims have waited almost 30 years for this day,” First Assistant Prosecuting Attorney Elizabeth Fax said in court, according to the Springfield Daily Citizen. “The case itself tells a story of a person who simply did not stop perpetrating on children. … He deserves the maximum. He does not deserve leniency.”

Considered a “manipulative predator,” the 53-year-old man was accused of grooming the daughters of his significant others and close friends, Greene County Prosecuting Attorney Dan Patterson said in September.

Patterson said Martinez would give “gifts and financial support” to the girls so he could “have access” to them.

The abuse took place from 1996 to 2021, officials said, referring to Patterson as a “serial child molester.”

“I let this monster into our home, around my kids and he betrayed our trust,” Leanna Bremenkamp, the mother of one of the victims, told KY3 in October. “We trusted him and invited him into our family and this is how he did us. It’s not right.”

The Republic Police Department said there were as many 13 victims, KOLR reported. One of the alleged victims, according to the Springfield News-Leader, was from California.

Martinez maintained his innocence, alleging the girls made up the allegations, prosecutors said. But a jury took less than two hours to find Martinez guilty on the 20 charges.

His 20 convictions include nine counts of first-degree statutory rape or first-degree statutory sodomy, which all led to life sentences in prison, court records show.

Greene County, which includes Springfield, is about a 160-mile drive southeast from Kansas City.

This story was originally published January 14, 2025 at 1:54 PM with the headline "Man convicted of sexually abusing his friends’ kids gets 9 life sentences in Missouri."