A Massachusetts court officer is accused of serious criminal acts, allegedly all done inside Lawrence District Court over the past five and a half years.
But the suspect is denying he did anything wrong.
For 16 years, he has stood in his white shirt and tie, alongside alleged rapists while they have been arraigned at Lawrence District Court.
But on this day, it is 46-year-old court officer Jose Martinez who is in handcuffs behind the glass, charged with three counts of raping a female inmate on several occasions while she was shackled, beginning in 2009, and as recently as this past October.
"The defendant came to a cell and transported her to a smaller female cell with a brick wall. He removed her handcuffs, however left her feet shackles on. He began to touch and tell her that he wanted her, that she was beautiful. He proceeded to pull her pants down," detailed Essex County Prosecutor Erin Bellavia.
"A single woman makes a single unfounded, unsupported, uncorroborated allegation. And that's all it takes in our day and age in our society and our system of justice. That's all it takes to have a good man's name dragged through the mud," said defense attorney Benjamin Duggan.
Those are the two sides of this story following the arrest of Martinez here at Lawrence District Court earlier in the day.
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His family was in court, distraught, as the defense attorney portrayed an innocent man who has never had any criminal history, and an accuser whose rap sheet includes drug abuse, prostitution and fugitive from justice charges.
"Is there anyone in this room, I do not think so, who would speak up and say he has ever been anything other than polite and courteous and respectful and a gentleman in his dealings with everybody in this room, inmates included. These allegations are false and they are patently false," Duggan added.
"When the elevator began to move again, he zipped up his pants and told her to make believe that she had handcuffs on. When the doors to the elevator opened, the victim could see that there were some court officers in the area and believe that they would've been able to see that he and she were both disheveled," Bellavia added.
Surveillance video will be critical to this case.
The judge granted permission to review any images from this courthouse that might show any wrongdoing.
Martinez was held on $40,000 cash and is only allowed to return to court for his next hearing on March 23.
