A 45-year-old Ellicott City man received a five-year suspended sentence yesterday for having sex with the 14-year-old girl who was his children's baby sitter.
Robert L. Watson Jr. pleaded guilty to a third-degree sex offense for fondling and having sexual intercourse with the minor four times between October and December 1993.
Circuit Judge James B. Dudley ordered Watson to undergo a psychological evaluation and any necessary treatment. Watson also will be on probation for five years.
In court yesterday, Watson, who has three children, expressed regret. The incidents began because of Watson's marital problems and went too far, his attorney said.
"With the treatment and counseling I'm getting, it will certainly never happen again," said Watson, a self-employed mechanic.
The teen-ager often baby-sat for the Watsons' children on weekdays and weekends. All the incidents took place in the Watsons' living room, said Assistant State's Attorney Mary Murphy.
When initially questioned by police about the relationship, the teen-ager denied having sex with Watson. But she admitted it more than a year later to a counselor at a camp for Christian athletes she attended, Murphy said in court.
Police later taped a phone conversation between Watson and the teen-ager, a call in which Watson reminisced with her about their relationship, Murphy said.
"The defendant stated that he had learned that age didn't matter," Murphy said.
Murphy initially asked Judge Dudley to restrict Watson from being in the presence of any girls under 18 without supervision, but the judge did not place that in his order. "If you don't know that already then you must be the first candidate for a brain transplant," Judge Dudley said.
Pub Date: 5/09/96
