Former school bus driver pleads guilty in decades-old rape cases

Apr. 4—A former Albuquerque Public Schools bus driver pleaded guilty on Thursday to multiple rapes in cases that date back decades.

Ralph Martinez, 61, accepted a plea deal with the 2nd Judicial District Attorney's Office last month, pleading to three counts of first-degree rape and another three counts of second-degree rape, bringing to a close decades-old cases that for many of those years had gone cold.

"These victims have been through so much trauma because of Martinez," 2nd Judicial District Attorney Sam Bregman said in a news release. "We hope this brings them some sense of justice."

"We want to thank the victims for their bravery, courage, and cooperation," added Deputy District Attorney Jack Jacks.

Court records show Martinez was originally charged with six counts of first-degree rape, but half of those were changed to the lesser, second-degree charge through the plea agreement.

Martinez faces at least 18 years in prison, and the district attorney's office and Martinez have agreed on a cap of 30 years in prison. As part of the plea deal, Martinez must also register as a sex offender.

It's not clear when Martinez will be sentenced. He is currently not in custody, said Lizzy Bunker, Martinez's attorney.

Throughout his case, Martinez has shown remorse, Bunker said, noting he had a chaotic upbringing in which he faced varying degrees of abuse.

"I don't know who Ralph Martinez was back in those years. But since I've met him, he's done nothing but take responsibility for everything," she told the Journal. "... From day one, he's been like, 'I'm ready to confront this.' "

"I can't say anything negative about him. Obviously, the allegations are (expletive) horrific," Bunker added.

Martinez, APS spokeswoman Monica Armenta said when the charges were first filed, had driven buses for the district since mid-December 2018 but had been placed on leave pending the outcome of an investigation. At the time, APS would not say what school he drove a bus for.

On Thursday, Armenta said Martinez resigned from the district in August, about a week and a half after he was initially charged, but still did not answer in time for publication which routes he drove.

The rapes Martinez pleaded guilty to date back to 1988 and span incidents involving three women. Martinez was also linked to the rape of a fourth woman, who was 59 at the time, but she has since died and no charges were filed.

The three women charges were pursued on behalf of were 18, 19 and 35 years old at the time of their rapes. Martinez, criminal complaints show, broke into the women's homes, using a knife to threaten a woman in the first incident and a gun belonging to his victim in another.

In the release, the district attorney's office said he did not know his victims.

Rape kits were taken in the cases but became a part of a larger rape kit backlog, per the complaints. They were eventually tested in January 2020, and agents with the district attorney's office used a genealogy company to find matches for the rape kits: Martinez and his brother.

According to the complaints, investigators then took DNA samples taken from the steering wheel and buttons on the school bus Martinez drove. Those samples matched Martinez's DNA and the rape kits.