A former livery cab driver was sentenced to 13 years in prison for raping and violently assaulting a 12-year-old girl at gunpoint, the Brooklyn District Attorney’s office announced Friday.
Rafael Martinez, 35, of East New York pleaded guilty to first-degree rape on June 26 and was sentenced in Brooklyn Supreme Court on Sept. 8 for the brutal assault that lasted over two hours.
Martinez was sentenced to 13 years in prison and 20 years’ post-release supervision. He must also register as a sex offender upon his release from jail.
“With today’s sentence, we are holding this defendant accountable for a brutal and horrific attack against an innocent young girl. I remain committed to keeping our streets safe from violent sexual criminals and to seeking justice for all victims of sexual violence,” said Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez.
According to the DA’s office, Martinez picked up the 12-year-old victim from a relative’s home in Fort Greene on Aug. 10, 2020.
The former cab driver was hired to take the victim to her home in Bedford-Stuyvesant but instead stopped his vehicle on Bergen Street and removed what prosecutors said was a black firearm from the glove department.
The victim reported that Martinez loaded silver bullets into the fire arm and told her “If you say anything, these bullets are for you.”
Prosecutors said that Martinez then climbed into the backseat, punched the child and threatened her with the firearm before proceeding to rape and sexually assault her.
According to evidence, Martinez drove the young girl to a second location on Herkimer Street, where he raped her in the backseat a second time. He dropped the girl home at 8 p.m. that evening where she told her mother about the two-hour long assault.
Cops arrested and charged Martinez the following day.
