An NC man sexually assaulted two teenagers 20 years ago. He’s going to prison now.
Two teenage girls were 15 years old when a man 10 years older sexually assaulted them, the Durham County district attorney said.
Nearly 20 years later, Jorge Martinez Flores was convicted last week of two felony counts of attempted statutory rape, District Attorney Satana Deberry announced Tuesday.
Martinez Flores, now 43, was charged with statutory rape in May 2004 after he picked up the first girl from school, took her to a restaurant where he gave her alcohol and then to a hotel, according to a news release from the DA’s office.
That girl reported her assault, accusing Martinez Flores, but he fled the jurisdiction and wasn’t prosecuted.
But his 2004 statutory rape case was reopened after he was charged with trafficking cocaine in Durham this year. Martinez Flores pleaded guilty to those charges Aug. 14.
After the first case was reopened, the second victim came forward for the first time since 2004, according to the news release.
This time Martinez Flores was accused of picking her up from school and taking her to his home where he had sex with her.
Sexual assault kits weren’t completed in these cases, the DA’s office said.
The second victim reported the statutory rape in June 2023, resulting in a new charge for Martinez Flores, who knew both of the girls’ families.
“I’m so happy that I’m here 20 years later,” the second woman told the judge when Martinez Flores entered a plea. “For my healing process, I needed to speak up.”
Convictions send message, says DA
“I’m gratified the Durham DA’s Office was able to secure some justice for these two survivors, who had lost hope they would see accountability in their cases,” Deberry said in the release.
“These convictions should send a message to all survivors of sexual assault in this community — and perpetrators — that no matter how long ago an assault occurred, the Durham DA’s Office takes these offenses extremely seriously,” she said.
Martinez Flores was sentenced to a minimum of six years and eight months to a maximum of eight years and nine months in prison, followed by five years of supervision. He also was ordered to register as a sex offender for 30 years and to never have contact with the women.
In North Carolina, statutory rape of a person 15 years of age or younger is a class B1 felony defined by a defendant who has sexual intercourse with a person 15 years of age or younger and is at least 12 years old and at least six years older than them.
The legal age of consent in North Carolina is 16 years old with a maximum age difference of four years.
Durham police make cold case arrest
The Durham Police Department also announced Tuesday that it had made an arrest in a 32-year-old cold case sexual assault.
Kenneth Lunsford, 60, of Durham, was charged Aug. 17 with first-degree burglary, first-degree rape and attempted first-degree sexual offense.
Lunsford is accused of breaking into a home and assaulting a woman in 1991.
On July 27, 1991, a female victim reported that an unknown man broke into her residence near the intersection of Clarendon and Green streets and sexually assaulted her. More than 30 years later, police were able to link Lunsford to this incident through the Sexual Assault Kit Initiative. Lunsford’s DNA matched evidence from the sexual assault kit in the case.
For those experiencing sexual assault, domestic violence, or human trafficking, the Durham Crisis Response Center helpline is free, confidential, and available 24/7. Call 919-403-6562 for assistance in English and 919-519-3735 for Spanish.
This story was originally published August 22, 2023 at 10:57 AM.
