He was charged with sexually abused a minor child.
Frederick, Md (KM) In Circuit Court on Monday, a Frederick man charged with sexually abusing a minor entered a plea. Adam Benjamin Watson, 38, entered an Alford plea to 2nd-degree assault. That means he doesn’t admit guilt, but acknowledges the prosecution has enough evidence for a conviction.
State’s Attorney Charlie Smith says Watson was sentenced to ten years with all but time served, 187 days, suspended. He will also placed on five years of supervised probation. “He’s going be through COMET which includes a psycho-sexual examination as well as submitting to polygraph testing and internet monitoring, ” says Smith.
COMET stands for Collaborative Offender Management Enforcement Treatment.
Smith says Watson did not plead guilty to the sex offense charges so the State has no confession or DNA evidence. But Smith says it wanted some sort of conviction against Watson. “But this is one of those very, very unfortunate cases that has a lot of back story. This was a situation that really tore the family part. And ultimately the victim and the family were in agreement with this outcome. But certainly this is not something we were hoping for,” says Smith.
Watson was arrested in May, 2022, and charged with 2nd-degree rape, sex abuse of a minor with a family member. 2nd-degree assault, 3rd-degree sex offense and 4th-degree sex offense with sexual contact.
In March, 2022, the Sheriff’s Office says it responded to the 5100 block of Mount Zion Road to take a report about a sex offense crime against a minor. After an investigation, detectives identified Watson as the suspect.
Watson had worked at several day care centers in Frederick, but authorities say these charges were not related to his employment.
Smith says Watson’s attorney noted his client plans to move out of Frederick County, and is asking for transfer of supervision. “He didn’t say where he was going, but, of course, Division of Parole and Probation will have to monitor him in one of the jurisdictions within the state,” says Smith.
By Kevin McManus