CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — A Florida man was sentenced to life in prison for sexually assaulting a Corpus Christi woman 12 years ago.
Jerral Martin, 43, appeared before Judge Nanette Hassette this morning and pleaded guilty to sexual assault.
According to Nueces County Assistant District Attorney Rumaldo Solis, Jr., on April 6, 2007, Martin sexually assaulted a Corpus Christi woman.
The victim told police she did not know the offender. Detectives say Martin knew personal details about the victim's life.
After the incident, the victim went to a local hospital and underwent a sexual assault examination. One of the swabs taken indicated the DNA belonged to an unknown male.
The profile was placed in CODIS, a national Combined DNA index system, which allows law enforcement to exchange and compare DNA profiles of offenders, in hopes of linking them to other crimes.
Meanwhile, Martin has been serving a life sentence in Florida for a charge of sexual battery. A law enforcement agency there took a random DNA sample unrelated to the case from Martin. That sample matched the DNA taken from the Corpus Christi victim in 2007.
That led to Martin's additional charge. He was brought to Nueces County a few days ago to appear before a judge.
