Repeated Savannah sex offender indicted on new sex crime charges

SAVANNAH, Ga. (WTOC) - A grand jury indicted 57-year-old Martin Luther Smith last week on two counts of rape and two counts of aggravated child molestation.

Smith, an already registered level two sex offender, was arrested back in March by Chatham County Police on allegations of new sex crimes against a child.

Police reports involving child sex crimes are not subject to open records requests. Now since he has been indicted, more information has come to light in the case.

According to the indictment, Smith is accused of raping a female less than 10 years of age between Dec. 19, 2016, and Dec. 18, 2018. The exact date of the offense is unknown to the grand jury.

The indictment also alleges Smith raped the same female child forcibly and against her will again between Dec. 19, 2018, and Dec. 19, 2022. The exact date of that offense is also unknown to the grand jury.

Smith is further accused of committing an immoral and indecent act to this female involving oral sex on the child and forcing the child to perform oral sex on him in 2022.

The indictment states the acts involved sodomy.

Previous convictions

Smith was convicted of aggravated child molestation in 1988. Prison records show he was sentenced to four years but only served 15 months in prison.

According to the Georgia Dept. of Corrections, in that case, Smith was incarcerated from March 1, 1989, to June 29, 1990.

He was convicted again in 1994 for two different counts of child molestation. He was in prison from 1994 to 2004 on those charges.

Smith was not required to register as a sex offender until 2004.

He went to prison on charges that he failed to register as a sex offender in 2006.

Drug charges

Police said Smith was found with hydrocodone and muscle relaxers in this 2026 arrest. Now that he has been indicted by a grand jury, he will plead guilty or not guilty in an arraignment in the coming weeks.