Arkansas sex offender accused of rape; girl, 15, has 3 kids, police say

William Watson, 44, of Helena West-Helena
William Watson, 44, of Helena West-Helena

A Helena-West Helena man who did repair work at a home where a 15-year-old girl lived faces a rape charge and is accused of fathering at least one of her three children, authorities said.

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William Maylona Watson Jr., 44, was arrested Sunday after a three-month investigation that began when police found the teen pregnant with her third child, said Helena-West Helena Police Chief Virgil Green.

Authorities used DNA testing to prove Watson was the father of the second child -- a 1-year-old girl -- of the teen, Green said. The girl also has a 2-year-old daughter and a newborn daughter.

Green said officials are conducting further tests to determine if Watson is the father of the other children.

Watson is a Level 2 sex offender, according to the Arkansas Crime Information Center's sex-offender website. A Level 2 offender is considered a "moderate risk."

The site did not give details of the crime or the date of the offense.

Green said Watson registered as an offender when he moved to Helena-West Helena from Clarksdale, Miss.

Watson was charged Monday with rape and violating an order that prevents him from being around minors as a registered sex offender. Watson is being held in the Phillips County jail in Helena-West Helena in lieu of $115,000 bond.

Green said the victim's mother, who is in her mid-30s, knew Watson. He said investigators suspect she allowed Watson to have sex with her daughter in lieu of paying for work at her home in Helena-West Helena.

"We believe she used her daughter to trade out for [work]," Green said.

He said he expects to seek charges against the teen's mother for neglect and failure to protect a child. The woman also has another daughter and a son.

The teen and her three daughters are in protective custody with the Arkansas Department of Human Services, the police chief said.

Katherine Williams lives around the corner from the woman's house and has often seen the teen's mother, the teen and the children outside.

"Sometimes they talk to us, sometimes they don't," Williams said.

Police have been to the home over disturbances several times in the past, Williams said. She said she saw the teen cursing at her mother outside last week, and police were called to the home then.

Green said police also have responded to calls at the home over gang-related offenses several times in the past year.

Williams said she saw police raid the home in April.

"They had rifles pointed all over, not handguns," Williams said of the police. "They had people stretched out all over the yard like logs of wood."

He said officers first noticed the teen was pregnant in April, when they served a search warrant at the home. That led to the investigation that resulted in Watson's arrest, Green said.

"It is very disturbing to know that a 15-year-old girl has three children," Green said. "She is a child. We hope she has some kind of future ahead."

State Desk on 07/26/2016

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