Man charged with raping Tacoma teen arrested
Pierce County sheriff’s deputies early Monday jailed a man charged in Pierce County Superior Court with raping a 14-year-old girl in 2015.
Deputies booked Martine Smith, 23, into Pierce County Jail on charges of second-degree child rape and third-degree child rape about 9 a.m., jail records show. Smith is a transient last known to be living in Seattle.
Smith was arrested Friday in King County, according to Pierce County sheriff’s spokesman Ed Troyer.
Prosecutors charged Smith in absentia last week for the Feb. 7, 2015, incident along Portland Avenue in Tacoma.
According to charging documents:
The girl was walking on Portland Avenue when Smith called out to her and suggested she be a prostitute, telling her he would take care of her.
He followed her and tried to talk her into going home with him, bragging about recently being released from prison for armed robbery before threatening the girl.
He eventually took her into a shed and sexually assaulted her. The girl went home and told her foster mother about the attack, which was reported that day.
Tacoma police identified Smith through DNA.
Kenny Ocker: 253-597-8627, @KennyOcker
This story was originally published April 3, 2017 at 10:59 AM with the headline "Man charged with raping Tacoma teen arrested."