During hearings in two different cases on September 9, a 20-year-old Marshall resident withdrew not-guilty pleas and pleaded guilty as charged to sex-related felonies involving juveniles. He was sentenced to spend more than a decade in state prison on Monday, November 25.
According to a probable-cause statement, on October 11, 2018, a 13-year-old female told authorities about an unwanted sexual encounter with Chase Matthew Watts.
Court documents say Watts pleaded guilty to an Unclassified Felony for Statutory Rape or Attempted Statutory Rape in the First Degree- with a Person Less Than 14 Years of Age. He was sentenced to 10 years in the Department of Corrections.
In another case, court documents say Watts pleaded guilty to three counts of an Unclassified Felony for Sodomy in the First Degree- Aggravated Sexual Offense for touching a girl inappropriately and having the girl perform sexual acts on him.
Watts was sentenced to 20 years in the D.O.C. on each count, with the sentences to run concurrently. However, those sentences are set to run consecutive to the 10-year sentence for a total of 30 years.