MUMBAI: Country singer Daniel Lee Martin, who was accused of child sex crimes, is no more. Lee Martin, 54, committed suicide, reports foxnews.com.
The musician and former reality show host was found dead with apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound at his home, the Pasco County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement to foxnews.com on Saturday.
His body was found by officials when they arrived at his property to serve multiple arrest warrants that had been issued out of Tennessee.
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Martin was accused of “three counts of sexual exploitation on a minor, three counts of aggravated sexual battery, one count of solicitation of a minor to commit rape of a child and two counts of committing an aggravated sexual battery,” according to the statement.
He had threatened to harm himself prior to his death on Friday.
“Martin did not respond to attempts to make contact with him… The PSO SWAT team was called in to assist, as Martin previously made threats of harm against himself and others,” the sheriff’s statement continues.
According to the Tampa Bay Times, the country singer was arrested in late January on charges of lewd and lascivious exhibition and prohibition of certain acts in connection with obscenity.
The arrest came after a female victim claimed Martin exposed himself and masturbated in front of her in addition to showing her pornographic images during multiple sleepovers at his New Port Richey, home last November.
He was also accused of assaulting three children under the age of 13 between 2014 and 2018, the Tampa newspaper reported. The musician turned himself in and was scheduled for trial in March.
Martin broke out in the country music scene in the late 1990s and opened for stars Willie Nelson and Vince Gill, according to reports. He had also co-hosted hunting show “Brotherhood Outdoors”.
(Source: IANS)
