A Brooklyn cab driver has been charged with the supposed rape and sexual attack of a 12-year-old girl, Eric Gonzalez, District Attorney stated on Thursday.
What We Know:
- According to officials, the supposed disturbance happened on August 10 what ended up being a two-hour drive the cab driver gave the victim in the early evening hours. Rafael Martinez, 32, went to get the victim in Fort Greene, and it was assumed he would take her to her home in Bedford-Stuyvesant. Martinez is now charged with jumping onto the back seat where the little girl was raping and sexually attacking the victim before taking her home.
- The allegations state that Martinez supposedly stopped the cab on Bergen Street and took what seemed to be a black gun from the glove compartment, loaded it with silver bullets, and told the 12-year-old “if you say anything, these bullets are for you.”
- After climbing to the backseat and threatening her with the firearm, he punched her body and then raping her. He then supposedly went back to the driver’s seat, drove to another location on Herkimer Street, went back to the back seat, forced the victim down, and supposedly raped her again.
- According to the DA’s investigations at around 8 p.m. that night, Martinez supposedly dropped the victim at her home, where she then told her mother that she was just raped.
- Martinez is facing 28-count charges following his accusations Thursday before a Brooklyn Supreme Court justice. He is currently facing three charges of predatory sexual assault against a child, four charges of first-degree rape, two counts of first-degree criminal sexual assault, 12 charges of first-degree sexual abuse, three charges of second-degree sexual abuse, three charges of sexual misconduct, and one count of endangering the welfare of a child. Martinez’s bail had been set at $200,000.
Martinez’s next presentation in court is programmed for Oct. 19. He is currently facing 25 to life in prison if found guilty.
