The former police chief of a small eastern North Dakota town accused of sexually abusing a child in four southwest North Dakota counties will have his preliminary hearing for all the matters at a later date.
James G. Watson, 51, of LaMoure, has been charged with eight felony counts related to the continuous sexual abuse of a child. The charges spread across four southwest North Dakota counties: Stark, Billings, Hettinger and Golden Valley.
In Stark and Golden Valley counties ,Watson has been charged with continuous sexual abuse of a child. In Hettinger County, he has been charged with three felony counts of gross sexual imposition, two of which are Class AA and the other is a Class A. In Billings County, he has also been charged with three counts of gross sexual imposition, two of which denote that there was a sexual act by force, which is a Class AA felony. The third gross sexual imposition charge is a Class A felony.
Watson was set to have a preliminary hearing on the matters on Monday, July 31. However, his attorney Kevin McCabe indicated they wished to have all four preliminary hearings on the same day. Stark County state's attorney Tom Henning said the prosecution would be OK with that.
The date for the hearings has not been set. Watson remains in custody at the Southwest Multi-County Correctional facility in Dickinson.
