Man admits sending lewd pictures to someone he thought was 13
Jul. 8—IPSWICH — A Haverhill man admitted Thursday to sending lewd photos and videos to someone he believed to be a 13-year-old girl.
Eric Martin, 39, was in fact sending those images to an undercover Ipswich police officer who had found Martin on an app called "Kik" last January, a prosecutor told Salem Superior Court Judge Thomas Drechsler.
Martin pleaded guilty Thursday to five counts of disseminating material harmful to a minor — the three photos of a penis and two videos of a man masturbating he sent in messages to the undercover officer.
In some of the messages, prosecutor Anne Marie Gochis said, Martin attempted to arrange a meeting with the "girl."
The undercover officer also received images showing Martin's face.
Under the terms of a plea agreement reached between Gochis and Martin's attorney, Pamela Love Rogers, and accepted by Drechsler, Martin was sentenced to time served, the 461 days he's spent in custody unable to come up with $10,000 bail in the case.
He will spend the next two years on probation, with requirements that he register as a sex offender and that he have no unsupervised contact with anyone under 14 except for family members.
Courts reporter Julie Manganis can be reached at 978-338-2521, by email at jmanganis@salemnews.com or on Twitter at @SNJulieManganis
Courts reporter Julie Manganis can be reached at 978-338-2521, by email at jmanganis@salemnews.com or on Twitter at @SNJulieManganis
