Man resentenced 11 years after arrest in Whatcom County child molestation case
After more than 11 years of court proceedings, a Clark County man has been sentenced to three years in community custody on child molestation charges.
Kristopher Michael Martin, 46, was arrested in January 2014 and charged with molesting a young girl who was known to him while living in Bellingham. He pleaded not guilty to all charges, and the case went to trial in late 2017. A jury found him guilty of all three charges, according to court records, and Martin was sentenced in March 2018 to 100 months in prison, followed by life in community custody.
Martin appealed his sentence immediately after, alleging that the trial court’s communication with the jury without informing either party in the case violated his constitutional right to appear and defend in person and by counsel.
According to court records, jurors told the court that they were deadlocked on one of the counts during deliberations. Neither the state nor the defense was present at the time and, without informing either party of the communication, the court told the jury to “try again.”
The Court of Appeals ruled that prosecutors could not prove the harmlessness of this communication beyond a reasonable doubt, and reversed the superior court’s decision in July 2019. The case was sent back to Whatcom County Superior Court for a retrial.
The trial was pushed back almost 30 times over the course of the following six years, in part due to the pandemic. Martin was not in custody during that time.
Martin pleaded guilty Wednesday to the amended charges of two counts of second-degree child molestation. He told the judge that he was making Alford pleas, meaning he maintains his innocence but accepts sentencing.
“I have never committed a crime in my life,” Martin said at the hearing. “There’s not a bone in my body that could do this.”
Martin said he made the pleas so that there could be a resolution for him and the “alleged victim.”
The girl that Martin pleaded guilty to molesting told investigators in a 2019 pre-sentence report that Martin’s abuse made it difficult for her to trust others. Her parents said she has been struggling with mental health issues and has a hard time making friends.
The state, which has been in contact with the victim, said she is “very frustrated by the drawn out nature of this case” but “happy to finally see some closure.”
Prosecutors asked for Martin to undergo a sexual deviancy evaluation and any recommended treatment as part of his sentence, which Martin and his public defender opposed. Judge Evan Jones ultimately sided with the state.
Martin was also sentenced to three years in prison; however, he’s already served a combined two years in the custody of the Whatcom County Jail and Department of Corrections. With credit for time served and the early release he likely would have earned, Martin will not go back to prison.
A six-year no-contact order with the victim has been put in place, and restitution is reserved, meaning it will be determined at a later date.
This story was originally published July 17, 2025 at 5:00 AM.