Baltimore County man sentenced for "torture" of 10-year-old stepdaughter

BALTIMORE - A Baltimore County man was sentenced to 25 years in prison for abusing his 10-year-old stepdaughter, the Baltimore County State's Attorney's Office said.

Mark Anthony Booker, 37, was convicted of first-degree child abuse in December 2023.

The judge said the "torture" of the girl was "perhaps the worst he had seen in his 40 years involved in the justice system" and that Booker had "shown no mercy to the victim."

In June 2019, Booker had been left to care for his stepdaughter -- who is non-verbal and unable to care for herself because of medical conditions, according to the prosecutor.

The child had been severely burned by scalding hot water, and she received what was later determined to be third-degree burns and was injured on at least 25 percent of her body. 

Prosecutors said expert testimony was presented in a trial before a jury that the injuries were inflicted and not accidental. 

Booker and the child's mother then decided to not seek medical attention and attempted to care for the child on their own. 

The expert testimony presented at trial also established that this decision caused excruciating pain to the young girl and left permanent damage to her body," prosecutors said. 

The injuries were not discovered until the first day that the child went back to school in September 2019. The school immediately reported the injuries. 

 The child's mother, Julian Martinez, pleaded guilty to first-degree child abuse and was sentenced to 20 years with all but five years of the sentence suspended. 

"The sentence was completely appropriate for the outrageous acts by Mark Booker on a significantly vulnerable member of our community who should have deserved to be loved and protected by those responsible for her care," said Baltimore County State's Attorney Scott Shellenberger.