KAUFMAN COUNTY, Texas – A Kaufman County man sentenced to 20 years confinement for indecency with a child by sexual contact requested a retrial yesterday which could now ultimately cost him life in prison.
KAUFMAN COUNTY, Texas – A Kaufman County man sentenced to 20 years confinement for indecency with a child by sexual contact requested a retrial yesterday which could now ultimately cost him life in prison.
48-year-old Michael Watts was originally charged on three counts of continuous sexual abuse of a child, a first-degree felony, in 2013.
While being represented by a court-appointed attorney, Watts pled guilty in a plea agreement during a pretrial hearing on June 25, 2014, to lesser charges of indecency with a child by sexual contact, a second-degree felony, and was sentenced to 20 years on each count to be served concurrently with the possibility of parole.
Yesterday, during a status hearing, Watts told Kaufman County 422nd District Court Judge B. Michael Chitty he wanted a retrial and a new court-appointed attorney citing miscommunication concerns with his current representation and stated he and his family weren't pleased with the sentencing.
Before Judge Chitty allowed the motion for retrial to move forward, Kaufman County District Attorney's Office Prosecutor Lauren Cook made it very clear; there would be no further plea agreements.
With a retrial, Watts would be facing the original three counts of continuous sexual abuse of a child which each carry 25- to 99-year sentences in prison without the possibility of parole – effectively a life sentence for the 48-year-old defendant.
