SAN ANTONIO – San Antonio Police Department records confirm a former Bexar County Court employee who resigned weeks after the arrest of a prominent San Antonio attorney is the focus of an ongoing abuse of power investigation.
SAPD confirmed details late last month of its 17-month investigation of Martha Idar, 60, after a ruling from the Texas Attorney General's Office.
Attorney Mark Benavides, who faces more than 40 felony sex charges related to accusations he coerced clients into having sex with him, linked himself to Idar during a videotaped SAPD interrogation in November 2015.
KSAT 12 obtained a copy of the recording earlier this year after it was played during a pretrial hearing for Benavides.
On the recording, Benavides repeatedly denies having sex with clients before asking why it would be a crime to do so.
"I had sex with a coworker. That's it. That's all I'm going to say," said Benavides, while questioned by SAPD about where he was before his arrest outside a North Side liquor store.
"I'm trying to protect a co-worker who's ..." Benavides added before a detective interrupted him and said the department already knew he was with Idar prior to his arrest.
SAPD has declined to go on the record about its investigation of Idar, since the case remains open and because Benavides has yet to go to trial.
Bexar County Court records confirm Idar personally assigned defendants' cases to Benavides off and on from 2013 to 2015, while working as auxiliary court coordinator at the Bexar County Jail.
County officials have been unable to provide a definitive list of how many cases Idar assigned to Benavides, since the responsibility of assigning cases rotated between Idar and whichever judge was overseeing the court.
Records show Idar, who spent more than 26 years working for Bexar County, resigned her position six weeks after Benavides was first taken into custody.
County officials have repeatedly refused to discuss the reason for her separation.
The Defenders have attempted to talk to Idar for more than a year about her involvement with Benavides.
A man who repeatedly answered the door at Idar's last known address said he knew nothing about the case.
The case against Benavides meanwhile continues to grow.
More than a dozen women, many of them indigent clients of his, claim Benavides convinced them to have sex with him in exchange for legal services, according to charging documents.
The Bexar County District Attorney's Office has also brought forward three standalone indictments against Benavides for sex assault of children, possession of child pornography and sexual performance by a child under 17.
Hundreds of sexual encounters, including some with a girl under the age of 17, were recorded on a video camera, according to previous charging documents.
"I have those (expletive) DVD's in there," Benavides is heard saying on the phone to a family member during a break in the interrogation, after learning that detectives had a warrant to search his home.
Benavides then reminded the person on the phone they had previously discussed there being a time when some of the footage would need to be destroyed.
"This can pretty much cancel my political career," said Benavides on the phone.
Late last week, Benavides was indicted on six counts of sex trafficking.
Benavides is accused of forcing six women to engage in conduct prohibited by state prostitution laws for periods ranging from six months to 22 months.
Last month, a Bexar County judge granted a motion allowing Benavides to have his cases heard in neighboring Wilson County.
A law enforcement source familiar with the Idar investigation who spoke with the Defenders on the condition of anonymity said Idar may be compelled to testify during Benavides' criminal trial.
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