Suspect charged with attempted sexual assault of 12-year-old in Grand Rapids

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – A suspect has been charged after allegedly grabbing a 12-year-old girl in an attempt to sexually assault her Tuesday morning in Grand Rapids.

According to Grand Rapids Police Chief Eric Winstrom, the incident happened around 7 a.m. near Bradford Street and Ball Avenue.

He says the girl was waiting for her school bus when a man approached her and dragged her across the street while trying to sexually assault her.

The girl managed to escape and run back home, quickly alerting her mother.

“This was a terrifying situation, potentially tragic,” Chief Winstrom said Wednesday. “This person’s motivations are clearly heinous. Without the extremely courageous, quick-thinking actions of a 12-year-old girl… we would have been having a very different conversation today.”

GRPD says 25-year-old Marquis Martinez was arrested for the attempted assault a short time later, within walking distance of the bus stop.

“Right from the beginning, we’re given information from a 12-year-old girl, and we have to assume that everything she says is true because there’s a possibility that there’s a monster out here,” Chief Winstrom explained. “In this case, everything she said was true. There was a monster out there and we were able to take them into custody.”

He has since been charged with kidnapping and attempted criminal sexual conduct in the second degree.

Chief Winstrom explained that he was located by a Grand Rapids Fire Department crew who were driving in the area. They were aware of what had happened to the girl and called a possibly suspicious-looking man who had been seen in a nearby wooded area.

‘These are the worst criminals. … They’re cowardly, I will say that, but heinous, just heinous acts,” Chief Winstrom said.

“This girl came very close to having her life completely changed and possibly taken from her, because these individuals, as I described them, are often like monsters a sexual act, and then it becomes a violent crime, which has ended many turns into murder.”

Suspect charged with attempted sexual assault of 12-year-old in Grand Rapids

Chief Winstrom credits the girl with not only saving herself, but all the potential future victims the man would have encountered had he not been taken into police custody.

“I’m so impressed with this girl, the action she took… she helped us put this monster in jail, in prison… hopefully for the rest of his life.”

Those with knowledge of the incident are encouraged to contact the department’s Family Services investigators by calling 616-456-3380. Anonymous tips can be submitted to Silent Observer at 616-774-2345.

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