COLDWATER, MI (WTVB) – A 19-year-old Coldwater resident was ordered to serve up to 10 years in the Michigan Department of Corrections on Monday in Branch County Circuit Court after he entered into a plea agreement in a pair of sex crime cases.
Shane William Watson entered guilty pleas to charges of assault with intent to commit sexual penetration and to third degree criminal sexual conduct with the victim being between 13 and 15 years old.
In exchange for the guilty pleas, the Branch County Prosecutors Office dismissed five other charges.
Watson got a sentence of 29 months to ten years in one case and a concurrent sentence of two to five years in the second case. He was given credit for 219 days also served in the Branch County Jail.
Watson originally faced three counts but four additional charges were filed by prosecutors after he was accused of having a sexual encounter with a 13-year-old girl from the original case while he was out on bond.
The arrests came following Coldwater Police Department investigations.
