FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Joseph A. Cervantez, State’s Attorney
Date: Thursday, October 24, 2024
Murphysboro Man Guilty of Violating the Sex Offender Registry
Jackson County State’s Attorney Joseph A. Cervantez announced today that Stanford D. Martin, age 48, of Murphysboro, was convicted of violating the sex offender registry after a trial in Jackson County.
On April 21, 2024, after a week-long investigation of reports that Martin was failing to document his location, the Murphysboro Police Department took Martin into custody without incident and charged by the Jackson County State’s Attorney’s Office with violating the sex offender registry and being a sexual predator knowingly within 500 feet of a public park. Martin is facing between 2-5 years in the Illinois Department of Corrections with up to one year of mandatory supervised release. A sentencing hearing will be scheduled for later this year.
Assistant State’s Attorney Lorren Pack led the prosecution team. State’s Attorney Cervantez thanked his office staff for their hard work assisting ASA Pack. The Murphysboro Police Department led the investigation.
A prosecutor has the responsibility of a minister of justice and not simply that of an advocate. This responsibility carries with it specific obligations to see that the defendant is accorded procedural justice, and that guilt is decided upon the basis of sufficient evidence. Except for statements that are necessary to inform the public of the nature and extent of the prosecutor’s action and that serve a legitimate law enforcement purpose, by Supreme Court Rule, the State’s Attorney is not allowed to make statements about pending cases or investigations which would pose a serious and imminent threat to the fairness of the proceeding. Rule 3.8 Special Responsibilities of a Prosecutor. For a list of certain subjects which have been determined to pose such a threat to the fairness of the proceedings and for a list of subjects which do not, please see Rule 3.6 Trial Publicity. For any press release involving a case which has not yet been tried, please note that: a defendant is presumed to be innocent of a charge until proved guilty beyond a reasonable doubt to the satisfaction of the jury.