By Shereen Siewert
A 39-year-old Rib Mountain man accused of exchanging sexually explicit photos and videos with underage girls on social media is behind bars, after a tip from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.
Gregori Martinez faces three felony charges of possessing child pornography. The charges were filed Nov. 6 in Marathon County Circuit Court.
According to court documents the national center’s tip led police to a South Fifth Avenue home in Wausau, where Martinez was a former renter. The landlord allowed police access to the now-vacant apartment, where investigators matched the room’s layout and rug to photos of Martinez, at least one of which allegedly contained an image of his genitals.
From there, police located Martinez at his new apartment on Eagle Avenue in Rib Mountain, where they searched his home and seized his cell phone. The girls depicted in the images and videos that surfaced appear to be between 11 and 16 years old, according to court documents.
During an initial appearance Wednesday, Reserve Judge Fred Kawalski ordered Martinez held on a $3,000 cash bond. He remains jailed as of Friday, and faces a maximum penalty of 75 years in the Wisconsin Prison System and up to $300,000 in fines if he is convicted on all three counts.
A preliminary hearing is set for Nov. 13.
