A minister fled an Atlanta courthouse before the judge pronounced his conviction for child rape, prompting a police manhunt for the newly minted convict.
Don Martin, minister of The Cathedral of Faith Church of God in Christ, sat through testimony for five days at the courthouse, then left Tuesday and failed to return for closing arguments and the verdict. Authorities are now searching for Martin, whose whereabouts are unknown.
The presiding judge convicted Martin of rape, first-degree child cruelty, child molestation, and aggravated sexual battery, according to Atlanta Journal Constitution. A girl accused Martin of sexually assaulting her repeatedly from age 7 to 13. Authorities arrested Martin in 2014. He was released on a $15,000 bond, required to wear an ankle monitor, and indicted on 2015. A superior court judge changed the conditions of Martin’s bond in 2017, however, which allowed him to take off the ankle monitor.
The judge presiding over Martin’s current case has postponed his sentencing out of respect for the victim, who said that she wants to face Martin in court.
Content created by The Daily Caller News Foundation is available without charge to any eligible news publisher that can provide a large audience. For licensing opportunities of our original content, please contact licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org
Going to college no longer offers the great reward of increased earnings, but it does…
College degrees have become less important as Bidenomics destroys the economy, so why these mental…
Facebook executives believed they were engaged in a “knife fight” with President Joe Biden’s White…
Jerome Powell, chair of the Federal Reserve, told reporters Wednesday during a press conference that…
Republican Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp signed a new immigration enforcement bill Wednesday, months after a…
U.S. productivity growth slowed in the first quarter of 2024, casting doubt on the American…