NATCHEZ — The bond for a Natchez man accused of rape a month after being arrested in Vidalia on sexual battery charges was reduced from $500,000 to $250,000 Thursday.

Jesus Martinez, 45, 1249 U.S. 61 North, turned himself in to Adams County authorities Wednesday and was booked on a charge of rape (assault with intent to ravish) for an alleged incident that happened over the Memorial Day weekend.

Justice Court Judge Charlie Vess set the initial bond Wednesday, but reduced it Thursday morning with the requirement that it be paid in cash or through a bail bondsman.

Vess said that while some people may be willing to flee on a property bond, very few are willing to walk away from $250,000.

“And at $250,000, a bounty hunter will — I assure you — go where they need to go,” Vess said.

Martinez’s attorney Tony Heidelberg argued before the court Martinez is a fixture of the community, owning restaurants in Natchez and Vidalia that employ a number of people.

“He is needed at his businesses for purposes of making sure those people continue to have jobs,” said Heidelberg, asking the judge to reduce the bond to between $150,000 and $175,000.

Assistant District Attorney Tim Cotton objected to any bond reduction, noting that Martinez already had charges of two counts sexual battery pending from an April arrest in Louisiana.

“We are not talking about a property crime, we are talking about a crime against a person,” said Cotton, arguing that a $500,000 bond is fair for a man who owns two businesses in the area.

The Louisiana arrest stems from allegations by two patrons at Martinez’s Vidalia restaurant — El Ranchero — that he inappropriately touched them and bit one of them.

When issuing his ruling, Vess noted that if both of Martinez’s alleged crimes had happened in Mississippi the bond reduction wouldn’t be an issue because bond for the first offenses would have been automatically revoked.

But Vess also noted that the purpose of bonds are not meant to be punitive in nature but are to secure the presence of a defendant in court.

Conditions for release the judge gave for Martinez should he make bond included:

• A restriction to Adams County and Concordia Parish
• A 1 a.m. curfew tied to the operation of his businesses
• A requirement to check in with the Adams County Sheriff’s Office and his attorney on a weekly basis
• A restriction from having a firearm until the criminal proceedings are done
• 4No contact with the parties involved
• Avoiding drinking alcohol to the point of inebriation
• Submitting to a DNA test
• Surrendering his passport.

The hearing ended at approximately 10:45 a.m. Martinez was released from the county jail at 11:41 a.m.