January 13, 2020
Jury convicts Mario Hernandez-Marquez, 50, of raping, sexually abusing a child over a several year period
Today, Multnomah County District Attorney Rod Underhill announced that a 12-person jury convicted 50-year-old Mario Hernandez-Marquez of rape, sexual abuse and other sex crimes following an investigation by the Multnomah County Multidisciplinary Child Abuse Team.
Sentencing in this case will be March 3, 2020 with Multnomah County Circuit Court Judge Thomas M. Ryan.
This investigation started in 2017 when the victim told a mandatory reporter that a person she knew, later identified as Hernandez-Marquez, had raped and sexually abused her. Law enforcement determined the sexual abuse occurred over several years in Multnomah County when the victim’s mother was out of the home, at work or running errands.
The jury unanimously convicted Hernandez-Marquez of four counts of rape in the first degree and eight counts of sexual abuse in the first degree. The jury also returned a lawful guilty verdict of one count of sodomy in the first degree.
During trial, the state proved Hernandez-Marquez unlawfully and knowingly engaged in sexual intercourse with the victim when she was under the age of 12, and that he unlawfully and knowingly subjected her to sexual contact when she was under the age of 14 by touching a sexual intimate part of her body on multiple occasions between 2011 and 2013.
The victim testified at trial that Hernandez-Marquez sexually abused her over seven years of her childhood, starting when she was likely seven or eight years old. She told the jury that she is deathly afraid of Hernandez-Marquez, and that the emotional trauma as a result of this abuse continues to have a profound impact on her life.
During this investigation, law enforcement learned the abuse started when the victim resided in Gresham, Oregon with her family and continued once they moved to a new residence in Fairview.
“The victim told investigators that she reported the abuse to protect other children from Mr. Hernandez-Marquez,” said Multnomah County Deputy District Attorney Amber Kinney, who prosecuted this case. “When the victim's mother learned about the abuse, she was overcome by fear, worry, sadness, and guilt.”
Like in all criminal and civil matters, electronic copies of court documents, which are not subject to a protective order, are available to the public through the Oregon eCourt Information (OECI) system.
No additional information can be released by the Multnomah County District Attorney’s Office at this time pursuant to the Oregon Rules of Professional Conduct.
It was through the coordination, communication and collaboration of the Multnomah County District Attorney’s Office Multidisciplinary Child Abuse Team that this case was investigated and prosecuted.
The Multidisciplinary Child Abuse Team includes representatives from local law enforcement, public schools, hospitals, courts, health departments, the Oregon Department of Human Services, and the Oregon Department of Employment Child Care Division.
The Multnomah County District Attorney’s Multidisciplinary Child Abuse Team is responsible for reviewing and managing child abuse and neglect cases in Multnomah County. The team also handles all child homicides, felony child physical abuse cases, felony child abandonment cases, custodial interference cases, and felony sex crimes where the victim is currently under the age of 18 and where the perpetrator is determined not to be a stranger to the child.
CARES Northwest, Multnomah County’s child abuse assessment center, is a community-based medical program for the assessment, treatment and prevention of child abuse. The organization is one of the largest child abuse assessment centers in the nation and serves more than 5,000 children annually.
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Contact: Brent Weisberg, Communications Director
Multnomah County District Attorney’s Office
Phone: 503.988.6567 | Email: Brent.Weisberg@mcda.us