An Atlantic City man accused of sexually assaulting sleeping men was ordered held in jail Friday.
Dwayne Martin Jr., 35, had been wanted since April, after an investigation found "reason to believe he targets sleeping men for (his) own sexual gratification," according to the affidavit of probable cause previously reported by BreakingAC.
Martin currently is charged in two cases.
The first was out of Brigantine, where a man woke up in an AirBnB on Sept. 2, 2024, and found Martin in bed on top of him performing a sex act, according to the charges.
An investigation into that case led to videos on Martin's phone that included him inside an acquaintance's vehicle in Atlantic City "pleasuring himself" while the other man slept.
The victim in that case told police he only learned of the incident when investigators notified him, and that he did not give consent, and that he "felt incredibly violated," Assistant Prosecutor Jasmine Ostrow said.
"The court has some concerns that there are reportedly other potential victims out of this jurisdiction," Judge Jeffrey Wilson said as part of his reason for holding Martin pretrial. "This does appear to be a pattern of targeting those who are in a vulnerable position who cannot give consent."
Defense attorney Mark Roddy argued that the Atlantic City incident is not a crime, since a requirement would be that the alleged victim actually saw the act being performed.
But the judge said that it was the videotaping of the incident that raised the criminal issue.
"One could easily presume, if filming, it's for some type of distribution or viewing by other eyes," Wilson said.
Roddy also argued that there is evidence the Brigantine incident was consensual, pointing to a text that Martin allegedly sent the victim saying, "I'm going to be over shortly."
He claimed that Martin had the victim's phone and the Airbnb address because it was given to him.
"This doesn't sound like the kind of conduct of a mad rapist sneaking into a house at night," Roddy said. "It sounds like two adults getting ready to have some sort of sexual liaison."
But Ostrow said video from outside the unnamed Margate bar shows only an interaction between Martin and the group of men attending a bachelor party in the parking lot.
At one point, Martin is seen taking the phone of the man who ordered a rideshare and not giving it back right away when asked.
That, she claims, is when Martin got the address of where the group was saying.
She also pointed out that there was no response to Martin's text, sent about an hour after the Margate interaction.
Martin also then let himself into the Brigantine home and went up to the bedroom where the victim was while everyone in the house was asleep.
Roddy also read two character letters that he said were part of several he received on Martin's behalf.
The judge said he took everything into account in deciding to detain Martin, including that he has no criminal history.
But he found the safety of the public is a concern, along with possible obstruction.
Wilson pointed to Martin's alleged attempt to have his social media deleted when he was alerted to an investigation.
He now will remain jailed pending outcome of the case, which Roddy indicated is likely to go to trial.
(NOTE: This story originally ran Oct. 14, 2025. It has been updated with the details and outcome of the detention hearing.)
