Martinez pleaded guilty in July to coercing two girls, ages 11 and 5, into sexual conduct to make child pornography in Virginia. He also admitted to engaging in abusive sexual contact with a girl between the ages of 7 and 9 while stationed in Iceland.

He is trying to withdraw his plea to the sex abuse charge and the pornography charge involving the 5-year-old girl.

Greg McCormack, Martinez’s attorney, was traveling for another case, his office said. McCormack did not respond to an e-mail request for comment.

A spokeswoman from the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Norfolk did not return a call for comment.

Martinez holds the rank of lieutenant commander. A Navy Personnel Command spokesman said Wednesday that Martinez is still affiliated with the Reserve, but has not been on active duty since May.

Martinez is scheduled to be sentenced on Oct. 29. According to his plea agreement, he could face up to 30 years in prison for each of the child pornography counts and up to 20 years in prison for the abusive sexual contact charge. The child-pornography charges carry a mandatory minimum sentence of 15 years in prison.

The investigation into Martinez began in March when he was deployed to Camp As Sayliyah in Qatar. An Air Force captain noticed that someone was using the office computer system to access child pornography. Superiors found Martinez using his laptop on the same connection used to access the pornography, according to court records.

Thousands of pornographic images and videos were found on the laptop, including more than 600 photos and videos of Martinez engaging in sexual contact with the 11-year-old girl.

There were also images on the laptop of the 5-year-old girl engaging in sexually explicit conduct.

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