Denver jury: Former APS deputy superintendent not guilty of child sex abuse

Former Albuquerque Public Schools Deputy Superintendent Jason Martinez was found not guilty of four charges relating to the sexual assault of children Tuesday afternoon in Denver.

Martinez faced four counts relating to his alleged abuse of two young boys: two counts of sexual assault on a child by a person in a position of trust and two counts of sexual assault on a child with a pattern of abuse. He was acquitted of all four after about a day of deliberations by the jury.

The trial was Martinez’s second relating to the charges. In his previous trial last October, the judge declared a mistrial after the Denver jury failed to reach a unanimous decision in the case.

The boys Martinez allegedly assaulted were close family friends. They allegedly contact came during trips to visit Martinez and on vacations they took together. But Martinez had maintained since the first trial he was innocent and said one of the boy’s mothers had told the boy to lie about the allegations.

Martinez was hired by former APS Superintendent Luis Valentino after the district failed to complete a background check on him. Martinez was not supposed to leave Colorado as conditions of his release on the charges, and lied about having worked in Albuquerque when asked.

Valentino was forced to resign after the charges against Martinez came to light – just two months after he started on the job.

Martinez also previously worked for Denver Public Schools.

Denver District Attorney’s Office spokeswoman Lynn Kimbrough said Martinez will be out on bond until his mid-August motion hearing for a separate assault case.