Apr. 7—WILKES-BARRE — Luzerne County Judge Joseph F. Sklarosky Jr. on Monday granted a request by District Attorney Sam Sanguedolce to withdraw child sexual abuse charges against John Watson, who was recently sentenced to nine decades in a federal prison for recording himself sexually assaulting a child.
Sanguedolce said the case against Watson, 49, was withdrawn due to the federal sentence.
Watson was charged by Plains Township police and county detectives after a girl, then 14, called 911 for help at the Red Roof Inn on Oct. 24, 2021.
She told police she was abducted by Watson on Union Street in Pringle on Oct. 21, 2021, and taken to an apartment in Luzerne Borough where she was sexually assaulted in a bathroom and given marijuana, according to court records.
Court records say Watson drove around the area with the girl while sexually assaulting her until he went to the motel in Plains Township where she found the room’s phone and called 911.
After the girl was saved by Plains Township police, Watson fled the area and was apprehended by the U.S. Marshals Fugitive Task Force on a trail in Cleveland, Ohio, on Dec. 23, 2021.
Investigators discovered Watson recorded himself sexually assaulting the girl and providing alcohol to her when she was held against her will from Oct. 21 to Oct. 24, 2021.
As Watson faced child sexual abuse charges in Luzerne County Court, a federal grand jury on Nov. 9, 2021, indicted Watson on five counts of sexual exploitation of children for the recordings.
A federal jury convicted Watson following a November 2023, trial before U.S. District Court Judge Robert D. Mariani in Scranton. Watson was sentenced by Mariani to 90 years in federal prison on Feb. 13.
Due to the federal sentence, charges of statutory sexual assault, involuntary deviate sexual intercourse, rape, sexual assault, false imprisonment, corruption of minors, indecent assault, indecent exposure and terroristic threats against Watson in Luzerne County Court were withdrawn by Sanguedolce.