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Former Colorado School Official Denies Sexually Abusing Boys

DENVER (AP) - A man whose hiring led to the resignation of Albuquerque's school superintendent testified Tuesday that he never inappropriately touched two young boys he is charged with sexually abusing.

Jason Martinez was arrested in Denver in the sex abuse case in 2013 and was later hired in Albuquerque to head the troubled district's instruction and technology division. School officials never completed a background check on him, which led to the resignation of Luis Valentino.

Martinez, a former Denver schools employee, was a longtime friend of the boys' families. He adopted one boy's father when he was abandoned as a child.

Martinez testified for hours Tuesday, sometimes fighting tears as he described the children and his relationship with their families. He said the boys and their parents lied when they accused him of sexually abusing them, and it made him feel horrible.

"It makes me angry, and it's very hurtful to me to believe the children and the people I loved ... would do this," he said. "They made me into a monster."

The accusations arose after the son of the man Martinez adopted came to stay with him in Denver in May 2013. Martinez had confronted the boy's mother because he was concerned about the boy's filthy living conditions back home. The child was 6 at the time.

"I wanted her to clean it up," Martinez said.

After the visit, the boy told his mother that Martinez had abused him, according to prosecutors. Defense attorneys said the woman wanted her son to lie about the abuse to keep her from getting in trouble with social services.

After the first boy made the allegation, the second boy also said Martinez abused him.

Martinez said he did not hurt either boy.

Prosecutors, who began cross-examining Martinez, have said the two victims were "prime targets" because they came from families that had been weakened by drug abuse, poverty and incarceration.

- By Sadie Gurman, AP Writer

(© Copyright 2015 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

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