Lethbridge sex offender arrested hours after being released from jail
Posted May 5, 2026 4:38 pm.
Last Updated May 5, 2026 4:39 pm.
A Lethbridge man released from jail last week was back in custody within hours after violating conditions of a lifetime ban tied to past offences involving children.
Lethbridge police say 47-year-old James Robert George Martinac, 47 walked out of jail at 7 a.m. on Friday after serving a four‑year sentence for offences including sexual interference, luring, possessing illegal images of children, sexual exploitation, and making threats.
Less than five hours later, officers reported seeing him at the Lethbridge Public Library using social media to view images of children, an activity prohibited under the conditions imposed after his earlier convictions.
The lifetime ban was issued following his 2021 and 2022 convictions for sexually assaulting and exploiting two young girls. It bars Martinac from entering community facilities, using the internet outside court‑approved rules, and accessing social media platforms designed for meeting strangers.
He is now charged with four counts of failing to comply with a prohibition order.
Martinac remains in custody and is scheduled to appear in court on May 6.
