Logan man sentenced to jail for driving to local park to meet up with police posing as teen girl

Booking photo for Braxton Cole Martin. (Photo: Cache County Jail)

LOGAN — A 21-year-old Logan man who admitted to trying to meet up for sex with an undercover police officer, posing as 13-year-old girl, is going to jail. Braxton C. Martin waived goodbye to his family, as deputies led him out of a courtroom to begin serving 90 days behind bars.

Martin was sentenced Monday afternoon in 1st District Court. He previously accepted a plea deal, pleading guilty to one count of attempting to entice a minor by internet or text, a third-degree felony.

On December 29, Martin began messaging with the undercover Logan City Police officer. At first, he identified himself as a 16-year-old from North Logan. He then started a sexually charged conversation, asking the officer about past sexual experiences and explaining some of his.

The defendant later gave the officer a phone number and began texting. The number was traced to Martin’s residence. A meeting was arranged at a Logan park, where police officers were waiting when he arrived.

Martin spoke briefly during Monday’s sentencing, calling his actions “deplorable.” He explained how he was exposed to pornography at the age of 8, and it continued to escalate until he was arrested.

Defense attorney Lindsay Jarvis asked the court to spare her client any jail time. She said Martin was taking steps to change his life after his future educational pursuits had been derailed.

Cache County Deputy Attorney Ronnie Keller disagreed with Jarvis. He said “there is a community expectation that adults will not try to entice minors.”

Judge Spencer Walsh told Martin that if he had really met up and had sex with a 13-year-old girl, he would be facing a prison sentence of at least 25 years. He ordered him to be placed on probation after serving three months in jail. He also prohibited him from having any contact with minors or access to the internet.

“Even though this case doesn’t define your life,” said Judge Walsh, “it has impacted it greatly. I believe that you can move forward in positive ways.”


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8 Comments

  • Fed up August 2, 2022 at 10:44 am Reply

    Interesting. This is the same judge who recently sentenced a 19 year old man who was present when an individual was stabbed at least five times, was caught with 3 1/2 pounds of methamphetamine and a firearm, and who had several previous convictions of rioting, and he received only 150 days in jail. That’s only 10 more days in jail than this guy gets for meeting up with undercover cops in pursuit of having sexual relations with a 13 year old. Most interesting rationale. Or perhaps this judge just needs to be disbarred and removed from the bench for his obvious judicial bias and arbitrariness in sentencing.

  • Fed up August 2, 2022 at 12:39 pm Reply

    I actually confused this guy’s sentence with that disgusting individual who got 140 days for beating an infant almost to death. Disgraceful.

    • That is to young! August 2, 2022 at 3:28 pm Reply

      It is economics. In most Christian countries 13 is close to being fair game. In the U.S. their are eleven states with the age of consent is 13. Nigeria has the age of consent at 11. So, you can’t be to hurt with the judge. Educate your daughters, it is a scary world out there.

  • Fed up August 2, 2022 at 11:41 pm Reply

    Economics, or something else entirely. This 21 year old was arrested, charged, convicted, and sentenced for his intentions not for committing any crime. Despite that most, if not all community members (who are of sound mind) would prefer to have all child predators behind bars forever, or even worse is completely understandable and justified. The fact that the police/criminal justice system is now arresting potential offenders who did not actually commit any crime is a bit unsettling as this precedent can, and probably will be applied to others who might have the intent to say shoplift, or have the intent to drink and drive, but who are subsequently arrested prior to commiting any criminal act. Thought crimes are already being prosecuted in other countries. The UK just arrested a 51 year old veteran because his Facebook post “caused someone to feel anxiety.” It’s also very convenient that the cops have started this practice on pedophiles as community outrage against acts/intent to commit harm to children is warranted and understandable; however, keep in mind this extrajudicial practice acting under the color of law could very well be applied to regular citizens who might be guilty of “thought-crimes” in the future.

    • Bo August 3, 2022 at 8:36 am Reply

      Your thought process is what’s unsettling. First of all, sting-ops to catch predators is not a new thing, it’s been going on for years and has saved countless children from people like this that target the vulnerable every day. In this guys mind, he was talking to a 13 year old, in his mind, he was meeting a 13 year old for sex. Thank god it wasn’t a 13 year old, but if it had been, like the article said, it would be more charges, and a prison sentence (if they even caught him after ruining an innocent childs life). He DID commit a crime, and was charged for what he did, which was have an inappropriate and damaging conversation with, what was in his mind, a minor, and showed every single intention in the world of doing more. The only way that what you said would make any sense is if it were a crime to talk about shoplifting, or drinking and driving online, which last I checked, it isn’t. Please think before you post something so idiotic next time.

  • Fed up August 3, 2022 at 9:54 am Reply

    I understand why you wouldn’t think these things could happen; I want to point out that things which weren’t considered normal or psychologically healthy several years ago, are now currently being promoted. Because society has obscured the lines of morality and legality which were once defined, grown men and women can now identify as being of the opposite sex, and in some cases identify as children; when people point out the obvious delusion in this line of thought, they are censored, publicly chastised, and threatened with lawsuits which has happened in the case of the male Penn State swimmer named Lia Thomas along with other prominent individuals. I fully support law enforcement efforts to remove pedophiles from society; if any of my children were sexually abused, the perpetrator would hope the cops found them before I did. That being said, I just want to point out the potential consequences that very easily could be applied to others when we start down a slippery slope of arresting people for their intent. Currently, it is not a crime to discuss one’s intent to shoplift, or their intent to drive drunk, yet just a few years ago, people were not publicly reprimanded or threatened with lawsuits for refusing to refer to a man as “she” or “they/them” or to a woman in the same fashion. If we don’t protect the constitutional rights of everyone we are essentially opening ourselves up for our constitutional rights to be denied to us when the lines of morality and legality become even more obscure. I appreciate your thoughts and your input, Bo, let’s continue to hope and petition our government that pedophiles ought to receive the maximum sentence when they’re convicted; let’s also hope that these potential consequences I have written about are indeed confined to catching those who abuse children and are not applied to regular citizens.

    • Gestas August 5, 2022 at 2:29 pm Reply

      Infowars just called, you are infringing on their copy rights.

      • Fed up August 7, 2022 at 10:24 am Reply

        Hey Gestas, I just want to say “Thank you” for mentioning Infowars. I went to the website and was thinking “these are some pretty outrageous claims that they make” until I saw that links to actual documents/reports are provided in each article. I was able to go to government websites and read the actual documents that they’ve reported on! The website’s/Infowars’ claims sound so outlandish, yet based on the government’s own admissions and evidence in their own documents, are 100 percent true. Who would have thought?!? Alas, truth is indeed stranger than fiction. Thanks again!

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