It took the jury seven hours to find a Greene County man — a former Boy Scout leader, foster dad and former law enforcement officer — guilty of sexually abusing a young boy who was his foster child in 2009.
John “Ian” Edward Martin had been charged with sexually abusing two other boys, but the jury found him not guilty of those charges.
Martin, 53, faced 17 felony charges. They include five counts of sexual misconduct involving a child under 15, nine counts of second-degree statutory sodomy and three counts of first-degree statutory sodomy.
The jury found him not guilty on the sexual misconduct and first-degree statutory sodomy charges, but found him guilty of nine counts of second-degree statutory sodomy for abusing the boy from the 2009 incidents.
Martin had been a law enforcement officer in the 1990s, but lost his peace officer’s license in 1998 due to his behavior toward one of the boys in his court case. Martin testified he worked in law enforcement for about 10 years, having worked for the Greene, Christian and Stone county sheriff’s offices.
During the two days of testimony in Judge Kaiti Greenwade’s courtroom in Springfield June 25-26, Martin’s accusers testified they were sexually abused in Martin's home years apart from the others dating back to the 1990s.
Following the jury's verdict Thursday night, Greenwade revoked Martin's bond and he was placed under arrest and taken to jail. He will be sentenced at a later date.
Victim from 2009 sexually assaulted in bed, shower
The victim from charges in which Martin was found guilty is now 28 years old. He testified he was placed in Martin’s home as a foster child in the summer of 2009 when he was about to begin his freshman year of high school. This boy would later be adopted by Martin.
This man testified that he did not know the young man from the 2020 allegations, but testified in detail with nearly identical accounts of being forced to do naked tick checks and naked spankings by Martin.
This man testified he eventually wound up sleeping in the same bed as Martin and would have to shower with Martin. The young man testified that Martin sexually assaulted him numerous times in bed and in the shower.
“I’ve tried to mentally block it,” he said. “It was painful.”
When questioned about why he never told anyone of the sexual abuse, the young man said it was because he felt shame and embarrassment.
“It demeans you as less of a man,” he said. “Most men don’t talk about it. … It’s not a stigma you want to live with.”
This victim became involved with scouting programs because of Martin. He went on to participate in Junior Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (JROTC) in high school and later joined the U.S. military.
Prosecutor: Martin sought vulnerable young boys
In his closing remarks to the jury, Greene County Assistant Prosecuting Attorney Conner Harris spoke about the reasons why Martin's accusers should be believed, even though none of them reported the abuse to police on their own.
“This is not a pleasant experience, testifying for a public courtroom in front of a group of strangers, lawyers, their abuser, anyone who wants to walk in that door. It's not easy stuff to talk about,” Harris said. “That can't be overstated — how much courage it takes to sit in that chair and tell people about the worst things that have happened to them.”
Harris went on to describe the “same basic roadmap” Martin used to groom and abuse kids, which including finding young boys “in need of stability” and a “father figure” and then “take advantage of that relationship.”
Harris said it is “absurd” to believe Martin is “so unlucky” that three boys who don't know each other and were around Martin in different decades would independently decide to accuse him of “nearly identical” acts of sexual abuse.
“And then that those three people would be willing to stick with this whole process and testify under oath to what happened to them — that's truly absurd. And that's what the defense is going to ask you to believe,” Harris said to the jury. “You don't have to check your common sense of the door. Please use your common sense. Don't buy into an absurdity.
“The defendant is a prolific child abuser. Between scouting and fostering children, the defendant has planned his life around meeting and grooming young boys,” Harris said. “He's been at it for decades. He’s been getting away with him for decades. And he can finally face justice for the crimes he committed against (the three accusers).”
Defense: Accusers seeking ‘selfish gain'
Throughout the trial and in his closing remarks, defense attorney Donavon Dobbs called the alleged victims’ allegations against Martin “opportunities for selfish gain.”
Dobbs told the jury there was no physical evidence any crimes had been committed and argued the accusers were not credible. Dobbs pointed out the opportunities each accuser had to tell someone they were being abused, but did not until they were approached by a Republic police detective in 2021.
Dobbs reminded the jury that the second accuser to testify didn’t remember a lot of details about what happened back in 2009.
“Those little details — if it really happened, he should remember,” Dobbs said. “You might not know if it was sunny outside. You might not know if it was rainy outside.
“But if that really happened to you, you would remember more details,” Dobbs said. “We didn’t get any more details because it didn’t happen.”
‘Unfettered access to young boys'
Assistant Prosecuting Attorney Sheri Tucker pushed back on Dobbs’ argument that the allegations of abuse were opportunities for “selfish gains.”
“If we’re going to talk about selfish gains, then we certainly want to talk about the defendant, a man who for decades tricked institution after institution into giving him unfettered access to young boys, vulnerable boys,” Tucker said, moments before the jury began deliberations. “A man who tricked institution after institution into trusting him before violating that trust.”
Tucker went on to speak about Martin’s time as a leader with the Boy Scouts and a foster parent to young boys.
“The defendant sought out the vulnerable. He handpicked those who didn't have a trusted adult around to ask questions,” Tucker said. “He found boys who relied on him for their basic necessities and he exploited them. Selfish gain.”
Naked ‘tick checks' and spankings
The jury found Martin not guilty of sexually abusing the most recent accuser, who is now 17. This young man briefly lived with Martin as a foster child when he was 13 during the summer of 2020.
The teen testified Martin would routinely make him strip naked for “tick checks” and spankings with a paddle. The teen said Martin had cameras all over his house in Republic and would force the teen to walk through the house naked.
The then-13-year-old underwent a forensic interview at the Child Advocacy Center in Springfield in 2020, which initiated the investigation and eventually charges were filed.
Prosecutors say this young man was fortunate he was removed from Martin’s house early on, before the abuse escalated as far as it did with the other Martin accusers. They argued the naked tick checks and spankings were Martin grooming the boys and normalizing being naked in front of him.
Accuser from 1997 suing Boy Scouts of America
The third and oldest accuser to testify at Martin’s trial was a 37-year-old who met Martin in 1997 when he was 10 years old. He was part of the Boys Scout Troop 235, which then met at Wesley United Methodist Church in south Springfield.
The jury found Martin not guilty of sexually molesting this person.
Still, this third man is part of a class action lawsuit against the Boy Scouts of America — a lawsuit that Martin’s defense attorney argued is the true reason and motivation for this man’s claims of sexual abuse.
This man testified his mother — a single mom — often worked out of town on the weekends in the late 1990s and allowed the then 10-year-old to spend the night at Martin’s house. He said Martin was like a father figure.
