Martese Johnson-Winters
A Platte County jury has convicted a man of raping a 16-year-old girl while recording his crimes on her cell phone.
Martese Johnson-Winters, 20, of Kansas City, was found guilty of first degree rape, first degree sodomy, and sexual exploitation of a minor after a three-day jury trial that ended on October 9.
“This man forced a teenager to have sex while pointing what she believed to be a gun at her,” Platte County prosecuting attorney Eric Zahnd said, “All the while, he videotaped his act of rape with her cell phone, only adding to the physical and emotional trauma she suffers to this day.”
Prosecutors proved that, on February 27, 2018, shortly after 1 a.m., Johnson-Winters went to the home of the 16-year-old girl in southern Platte County. Johnson-Winters and the girl had been in an on-and-off romantic relationship for several months.
Johnson-Winters accused the girl of cheating on him and showed her what she believed was a handgun and showed her that it was loaded.
He then pressed the gun against her face and body and forced her to perform multiple sex acts. He recorded these crimes on the victim’s cell phone.
Johnson-Winters was interviewed by a Platte County Sheriff’s Deputy, and he claimed the handgun was actually a lighter and later claimed it was a BB gun. He told the deputy that he had gotten rid of it and it was never located by authorities.
“This defendant tried to excuse his crimes by saying he’d been romantically involved with his victim in the past,” Zahnd said. “But there is never an excuse for rape; forcing sex on another person is never justified.”
The jury recommended sentences of 10 years in prison on the rape and sodomy counts and five years in prison on the sexual exploitation charge. Under Missouri law, Johnson-Winters sentences must run consecutively.
Judge James Van Amburg set a sentencing hearing for Dec. 5.
The case was investigated by the Platte County Sheriff’s Department. It was prosecuted by Assistant Prosecuting Attorneys Myles Perry and Kaitlynn Donnelly.