| 10/9/2007 3:00:00 PM | Email this article • Print this article | Teacher's plea bargain in misconduct case rejected
Former Southwestern coach charged with 23 counts of sexual misconduct
Laura Halleman
Courier Staff Writer
A plea bargain for former Southwestern girls coach and physical education teacher John Watts, who was charged with 23 counts of sexual misconduct with a minor, was rejected by the judge in his case.
The Austin young woman, now 18, whose complaint led to the charges a year ago, had agreed to the plea bargain. But Washington County Circuit Judge Frank Newkirk Jr., who was appointed to hear the Scott County case, rejected the deal and set a pretrial hearing for 1 p.m. Thursday at the Scott County Courthouse. Watts' trial is scheduled to begin Dec. 10.
The plea agreement would have allowed Watts to plead guilty to one count of sexual misconduct with a minor, a felony, and receive a sentence of six years in prison with all suspended, be placed on probation for six years and serve one year of home confinement. The plea agreement also stated that Watts would be required to seek a therapist approved by the Scott County Probation Department within 60 days, surrender his teaching license to the Indiana Department of Education and register as a sex offender as required by Indiana law.
Watts, 28, of Lexington, was also a volunteer girls track coach at Austin High School, where the minor went to school, and was a youth minister at an Austin church during the time the alleged sexual misconduct occurred.
He had been under investigation by Indiana State Police Detective Dave Mitchell throughout the summer of 2006 after the minor went to the police. He turned himself in and posted a $40,000 cash bond less than 24 hours after being named the Ohio River Valley Conference coach of the year. Two days before his arrest, he had coached the Lady Rebels cross country team to the Ohio River Valley Conference championship. Watts was in his fourth year at Southwestern at the time of his arrest.
He was immediately suspended without pay, and his resignation was unanimously accepted by the school board in December 2006.
In transcripts of a taped interview between Watts and Mitchell that took place at Watts' church shortly after his arrest, Watts admitted to having sexual encounters between 2002 and 2004 with the then-14-year-old girl at various locations.
When Mitchell asked if there were any other minors Watts came into contact with, he admitted to having several sexual encounters with a minor he coached on the Austin High School track team, also between 2002 and 2004.
Watts also told Mitchell that while he was a student at Indiana University he dated a 14-year-old girl for four years with the consent of her parents and said "they (parents) had no problem with it." He asked Mitchell to keep this minor he dated out of the investigation because "she is just a really great girl."
In previous Madison Courier articles after Watts' arrest, Southwestern Superintendent Steve Telfer described Watts' arrest as a "shocking situation," and when he first told the faculty about the arrest Telfer said, "None of our kids are involved. That's the good news. We have lost a quality person, someone who has been a positive role model to our kids. We are saddened at the loss for our Southwestern family."
If convicted of all the charges, Watts could receive six to 20 years in prison for 16 of the charges and two to eight years in prison for the remainder.
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