Molester, Relatives Sued for Damages

A 12-year-old Garden Grove boy Wednesday filed a lawsuit against the man who molested him and a dozen of his relatives and friends, who are accused in the suit of allowing the abuse to take place in their homes.

The boy and his mother seek damages from Robert Edwin Martin, who was convicted in April of molesting the boy and is now serving a 57-year prison sentence.

The lawsuit, filed in Orange County Superior Court, also alleges that 12 of Martin’s relatives and friends allowed the abuse to take place in their homes in Garden Grove, Yorba Linda, Westminster, Big Bear, Fallbrook and Tehachapi.

The lawsuit contends that the friends knew that the paroled sex offender was a threat to the boy, but said nothing to warn the youth or his mother.

Martin, 41, was convicted in April on 23 counts of lewd conduct with a child, crimes committed while he was on parole for previous sex offenses.

The boy met Martin when he was 8 years old, and over time, according to the suit, Martin became a “father figure” to him. In May, 1992, the boy’s mother learned about Martin’s past molestation convictions when he appeared on a television show about parolees, admitting that he had been previously convicted of molesting young boys, the lawsuit says.