Man sentenced to 50 years behind bars for 2016 rape

A man convicted of breaking into a 51-year-old woman’s apartment and raping her last year has been sentenced to 50 years in prison.

Edwin Ponce Martinez, 23, was sentenced Friday in Fairfax County Circuit Court to 80 years in prison, with 30 of those years suspended. Ponce Martinez will also need to complete a sex offender evaluation and register as a sex offender.

Edwin Ponce Martinez

Ponce Martinez pleaded guilty to first-degree rape in October 2016.

Ponce Martinez was arrested Feb. 26, 2016, six days after authorities say he broke into the woman’s apartment in 8400 block of Blankenship Street in the middle of the night. Ponce then sexually assaulted the woman before fleeing, police said. 

The woman was hospitalized with non-life-threatening injuries, and the incident quickly garnered widespread attention. The police reached out to the nearby community and used social media to find leads, and a sketch of the suspect was released in the days after the assault. Detectives publicly identified Ponce Martinez as the suspect shortly before he was caught by police in the Hybla Valley area around 11 p.m. Feb. 26.

Fairfax County Chief of Police Edwin Roessler called the attack “a tragedy for the community” following the arrest, and praised the public for helping police identify and track down Ponce Martinez.