Judge Tells Marietta Man Who Raped Relative: I Hope You 'Never Get Paroled': ICYMI

MARIETTA, GA -- A Marietta man convicted in the repeated rape of his young relative will spend the rest of his life behind bars, Cobb County District Attorney Vic Reynolds announced recently. Robert Lee Martin, 37, was sentenced in the courtroom of Cobb Superior Court Judge Robert D. Leonard II, who told the defendant, "It’s my intention that you never get paroled and die in prison.”

A Cobb jury convicted Martin on June 22 for molesting a girl in his family from the time she was 10 years old to age 14. (SIGN UP: Get Patch's Daily Newsletter and Real Time News Alerts. Or, if you have an iPhone, download the free Patch app.)

The girl testified at the four-day trial, detailing the horrific abuse she endured for years at the hand of someone she trusted and felt a familial bond with.

The judge told Martin that as a family member his job was to protect the girl, not prey on her.

“If you will do this to your own flesh and blood, you’ll do it to anybody,” Leonard said. “So, now it falls to me to protect her, and every other young girl in this community, as best I can. In my view, the best way to do that is to make sure you never walk around a free man in this community again."

Prosecutors applauded the girl, who suffered in silence for years before mustering the courage to come forward in 2014 with her plight. “The true hero in this case is the victim. This young girl stood up in the face of people who did not believe her and spoke the truth about what had happened to her,” Assistant District Attorney David Williamson said. “This verdict sends a message to this victim that she is believed.”

Martin was represented by Marietta attorneys Justin Wyatt and Joel Bergstrom.

Image via Cobb Sheriff's Office