“I have been falsely accused and unjustly punished with no proof whatsoever other than this person’s word,” he said.

Last week, 2nd Circuit Judge Richard Bissen denied Marten’s request to be released on supervision or to have his $650,000 bail reduced to $30,000 so he could work to prevent foreclosure of his Napili residence.

Marten’s phone call came to The Maui News via a collect call. The operator identified the caller as Chayne Marten from the Maui Community Correctional Center. After call charges were accepted, Marten, 64, said he wanted to make a recorded statement.

In it, he challenged the credibility of his accuser, saying that the person had attempted to bring changes against him before the 2014 election. In that election, Marten lost his second attempt to unseat state Rep. Angus McKelvey, a Democrat.

Now, his accuser has “decided to step up the charges,” he said from jail.

“I believe it was politically motivated in order to steal the election from the people and maintain the status quo,” Marten said. “I will not let this define who I am. The bottom line is that it’s God’s opinion of me that matters. The voices that shame me today will soon grow silent.”

After his statement, he asserted his innocence, saying, “I have never been arrested for anything in my life.”

“People should know there’s two sides to every story,” he said. “I believe it will not go to trial. . . . I will be set free.”

Police arrested Marten on an indictment Oct. 11. He has pleaded not guilty to five counts of first-degree sexual assault, three counts of third-degree sexual assault and endangering the welfare of a minor.

The assaults allegedly happened between Dec. 6, 2007, and Dec. 6, 2010, involving sexual contact and penetration of a girl who was between 7 and 10 years old, prosecutors have charged. The girl is a family member.

Marten said that life at the Wailuku jail has been uncomfortable.

At first, he was placed in an overcrowded cell, he said. “Two of us were sleeping on the floor.”

Another inmate stared at him and told him he was being held because he “murdered his wife and stabbed two others at Foodland.”

Marten did not refer to the inmate by name. But, Stephen B. Schmidt, 45, has been accused of fatally stabbing his estranged wife, 24-year-old Kehau Farias Schmidt, and attempting to kill bystanders who came to her aid April 19 at the Kehalani Foodland store. Schmidt is charged with first-degree murder, first-degree attempted murder and three counts of attempted second-degree murder.

Marten said that after news accounts surfaced about the charges against him, other inmates banged on his cell door and threatened to kill him. “Now, 22 hours a day I’m in a cell by myself,” he said.

Marten will be on Tuesday’s ballot as the Republican nominee for the House District 10 seat, which includes West Maui, Maalaea and north Kihei.

McKelvey has held the seat since 2007.

* Brian Perry can be reached at bperry@mauinews.com.