A Corona teacher's aide accused of sexually assaulting a 13-year-old student is slated to be arraigned today
Steven Michael Martinez, 22, of Norco is charged with two counts of lewd acts on a minor and one count each of arranging to meet a child to commit a crime, communicating with a child for felonious purposes and attempted aggravated sexual assault of a minor.
Martinez was arrested Jan. 8 following an investigation by Corona police. He's being held in lieu of $1 million bail at the Smith Correctional Facility in Banning.
According to investigators, Martinez befriended a girl at a school in the Corona-Norco Unified School District and began communicating with her electronically, primarily through social networking websites and text messaging.
The content of the messages included explicit sexually oriented pictures and language, police said.
The inappropriate contact escalated to an alleged assault, though investigators did not disclose the circumstances.
The victim's parents discovered the text messages, triggering an investigation that culminated in Martinez's arrest at Garretson Elementary School at 1650 Garretson Ave. in Corona.
His employment status following his arrest has not been confirmed.
Anyone who might have information related to the case was urged to call Corona police Detective Andy Bryant at (951) 817-5739.
