photo by: Douglas County Sheriff's Office

Lorene Rose Martins

The former wife of a convicted child molester waived her right on Tuesday in Douglas County District Court to a preliminary hearing and is pursuing criminal mediation regarding allegations that she concealed her husband’s crimes.

In a preliminary hearing, a judge would have decided if enough evidence existed to order the woman, Lorene Rose Martins, to stand trial.

Martins, 47, of Lawrence, is charged with two felony counts of aggravated endangerment of a child in a reckless situation and one misdemeanor count of intimidation of a witness.

The charges relate to a November 2017 incident in which she allegedly failed to contact police after her husband, Timothy Glen Martins, 47, had engaged in aggravated indecent liberties with a child. She is also accused of telling a victim to lie to police.

Court records indicate that on Aug. 24, Martins will be entering into criminal mediation with retired judge Kevin Moriarty of Moriarty Mediation LLC in Overland Park. She is scheduled for a status update and arraignment on the charges the following week.

The state has filed for an upward departure for sentencing in the case, according to court records. The charges are low-level felonies and come with a presumptive probation sentence. A motion for upward departure asks the judge to depart from the sentencing guidelines and to give the defendant a more severe punishment if convicted.

Martins filed for divorce from her husband on Jan. 20, 2022, just short of a year after the two were initially arrested. The divorce was finalized on May 23, according to court records.

As previously reported by the Journal-World, a jury convicted Timothy Martins on May 5 of four counts of aggravated indecent liberties with a child and one count of indecent liberties with a child. He was sentenced on June 23 to life in prison without the possibility of parole for 25 years and an additional 132 months in prison.

photo by: Chris Conde/Journal-World

Timothy Glen Martins is pictured in Douglas County District Court on Thursday, June 23, 2022, after his sentencing in a sex crime case.

During his trial he told the jury that he regularly cuddled with young girls in their home while the girls were naked.

During Timothy’s trial he testified that he told Lorene that he crossed the line with one of the children; he said he lied to Lorene, saying the sexual contact was an accident, and she did not report him to authorities.

The victim testified that police had asked questions about Timothy abusing her but that Lorene had pleaded with the victim to lie.

“So I did,” the victim said. “I told them I made it up.”

Lorene was charged in January of 2021 with similar aggravated endangerment counts, and at that time the charges also specifically included a failure to report count, according to court records. The state alleged that Lorene was a licensed counselor and hence a mandatory reporter of child abuse.

The failure to report charge was dismissed separately in that case by Judge Gunnar Sundby because her defense attorney, Dustin Curry, argued that Lorene was not a licensed therapist with a professional relationship with the victim at the time of the incident, according to court records.

Lorene acquired her license to be a professional counselor after the alleged incident, in January of 2019, according to the Kansas Behavioral Sciences Regulatory Board. Her license is still listed as active.

The rest of the charges were dismissed in February of 2022, while the state was preparing its case against her husband. The reason listed in the motion for dismissal filed by Deputy District Attorney Joshua Seiden was “for necessity.”

Lorene was listed as a co-defendant when she and Timothy were first arrested in 2021, and she was held on a $100,000 bond, according to court records. For the refiled charges, Lorene was arrested on May 14, 2022, and was given a $5,000 bond. She was released later the same day.