Man Pleads Guilty in Counselor’s Rape : Violence: James Martinez appeared to have turned a corner with woman’s help. Why he attacked her remains a mystery.

To the counselor who bought him interview clothes and gave him bus fare, 19-year-old James Michael Martinez seemed to be turning the corner to a better life.

For the first time, the chronic drug user was earning a paycheck, praise from his boss and confidence to work beyond his short-term position at a retail warehouse.

“To everyone involved, it appeared that he was turning his life around,” said the 46-year-old woman assigned to work with Martinez through a federally subsidized jobs program.

But on June 6, Martinez shattered his own success story in a fit of violence: He raped his jobs counselor at knifepoint, tying her hands together with a curling iron cord and muffling her cries with a washcloth.

On Wednesday, he appeared in Superior Court wearing a blue jailhouse uniform, the tattoos on his neck partly hidden, and pleaded guilty to rape with the use of a knife. He faces up to 13 years in prison and is scheduled to be sentenced Aug. 16.

Deputy Public Defender Bryant Villagran said Martinez, who grew up in Ventura, wanted to plead guilty to take responsibility for his actions and spare the victim the pain of a public trial.

“He didn’t want her to go through any more trauma,” the attorney said.

Villagran and prosecutor Bob Calvert described the case as unusual due to the nature of the mentor relationship between Martinez and the woman, and Martinez’ progress in the jobs program.

Martinez had a previous criminal record--convictions for drug and property offenses--but had never been arrested for sexual assault.

“He seemed to be making proper life decisions and, all of a sudden, he just lost his focus,” said Sheriff’s Detective Cheryl Bassett, who investigated the rape.

The attack occurred at the woman’s home in Camarillo on a day he had asked her to drive him to two interviews. On the way to the second appointment, Martinez got confused about the directions. The woman offered to stop at her home and check the company’s address.

As she dialed directory assistance, he knocked on her door and asked to use the bathroom. Because she had known him for several weeks and trusted him, she said yes.

After a few minutes, she heard him leave the bathroom. Then she felt a chokehold around her neck and a blade pressed to her face.

“Until he said something, she did not know it was him,” Bassett said. “It didn’t occur to her it was him. She thought there was some kind of person hiding in her house.”

Martinez then took a cord from the curling iron in her bathroom, tied her hands and forced her upstairs, where he raped her, Bassett said.

“He was very quiet and talked to her in a determined way,” the detective said. “She had screamed and he told her not to do it again or he would hurt her.”

After the attack, the woman tried to calm Martinez, then she drove him home. Hours later, she reported the assault.

After spending much time trying to find a reason for the attack, the woman said she has stopped looking for an explanation.

“I just decided I needed to put more energy into myself and my own recovery, and I may never know why. I don’t believe he knew why,” she said.

After being told of his guilty plea, the woman said she felt relieved.

“He took responsibility,” she said. “And that’s what I wanted.

“I don’t know that it’s even really sunk in yet,” she added. “I still know the good side of him. I still believe that he will turn his life around again.”