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Throw-Away-the-Key Prison Sentence for Porterville Child Predator
Bill McEwen updated website photo 2024
By Bill McEwen, News Director
Published 2 years ago on
January 13, 2023

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Some criminals are so vile and dangerous and their crimes so despicable that a judge stares them in the eye and hands down a throw-away-the-key prison sentence.

Armando Martinez booking photo
Armando Martinez, 37, received  612 years to life on Thursday, Jan. 12, 2023. (Tulare County DA’s Office)

That’s what serial child molester Armando Martinez, 37, got Thursday from Judge Melinda Reed in Department 6 of Tulare County Superior Court in Visalia.

Reed sentenced the Porterville man to 612 years to life in state prison following 31 convictions of child molestation, including forcible rape. The sentence was the maximum by statute.

Twenty-three of the crimes were committed between July 18 and Aug. 5, 2018, against a girl who was between 4 and 14 years old at the time of the sexual assaults.

Martinez committed eight other sexual assaults between February 28, 2017, and Aug. 5, 2018, against another girl. She turned 8 years old during the time frame of the attacks.

All of Martinez’s felony assaults took place in Porterville.

Prosecution, Investigative Teams

Tulare County deputy district attorney Chelsea Wayt of the Crimes against Children Division prosecuted the case. Porterville Police Sgt. Orlando Ortiz and officer Jesus Gallardo were the investigators.

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Bill McEwen,
News Director
Bill McEwen is news director and columnist for GV Wire. He joined GV Wire in August 2017 after 37 years at The Fresno Bee. With The Bee, he served as Opinion Editor, City Hall reporter, Metro columnist, sports columnist and sports editor through the years. His work has been frequently honored by the California Newspapers Publishers Association, including authoring first-place editorials in 2015 and 2016. Bill and his wife, Karen, are proud parents of two adult sons, and they have two grandsons. You can contact Bill at 559-492-4031 or at Send an Email

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