A man accused of using water torture on a woman to make her confess to cheating on him was charged by the Racine County District Attorney’s Office on Wednesday with felonies.
Michael Martinez, 29, of Racine, was charged with battery, false imprisonment and second degree sexual assault. Each of the charges has a domestic abuse assessment and he was charged as a repeat offender. If convicted, Martinez faces up to 56 years, nine months in prison and/or fined up to $140,000.
According to the criminal complaint:
A woman told police that Martinez invited a woman to his apartment for dinner and when she got there he was lying on his bed in the living room. Martinez repeatedly asked the woman to go to bed with him. But when she refused he grabbed her, and pulled her on the bed. He accused her of cheating on him when he was in jail, but the woman denied the allegations.
“We can do this the easy way or the hard way,” Martinez told the woman.
Man Uses Water Torture
She continued to deny the allegation and he tied her hands behind her back with a cloth belt. Martinez turned up the volume of the television, grabbed her and forced her to walk into the bathroom. Pushing her head over the bath tub with her face up, Martinez took a towel and covered her face. He then tortured the woman by pouring water over her face and demanded that she confess to cheating on him.
Feeling like she was going to drown, the woman made up a story to get him to stop. He then made her point out which man it was by showing her pictures on Facebook. The woman told police she had sex with Martinez so that she wouldn’t try torture her again.
Bond, preliminary hearing set
Racine County Court Commissioner Alice Rudebusch set a cash bond for $100,000 and a preliminary hearing for 8:30 a.m. Aug. 31.
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