Fugitive arrested

in 2005 sex-assault case
By Scott Nicholson
nicholson@wataugademocrat.com

A Boone man was arrested nearly three years after being suspected of statutory rape and sex offense.
The reported assault on a 14-year-old female occurred on May 11, 2005, and Francisco Javier Martinez-Garcia had been charged in the incident.

He reportedly eluded arrest by apparently leaving the county after learning of the charges, and investigators believed he had returned to his native country of Mexico.

The Watauga County Sheriff's Office Special Operations Division learned Martinez-Garcia had recently returned to the area.

He had been living in his former residence at Bradford Trailer Park in Boone and surveillance efforts matched him with prior photographs.

Martinez-Garcia was arrested on Wednesday at 158 Bluebird Lane.

According to the Sheriff's Office, Martinez-Garcia refused to give his name and had also used the name “Daniel Cortez Garcia.”

Further investigation confirmed his identity as that of the 2005 suspect.

Martinez-Garcia was placed under $500,000 secured bond and has a District Court appearance on April 7.