Inmate serving life for sex crimes dies in prison

A Wichita man serving life in prison in connection with two rape cases, including one involving a Sedgwick County child, died Tuesday at El Dorado Correctional Facility, according to information from the Kansas Department of Corrections and the Sedgwick County District Attorney’s Office.

Wesley Watson, 59, was serving the sentence under a 2006 Kansas law that allows life imprisonment for habitual sex offenders. He was convicted in the 1980 rape and aggravated sodomy of a 14-year-old Wichita girl he followed to her home. He was initially sentenced to 90 years to life in the case – a term that later was amended to 60 years to life – but was paroled in 2009, according to The Eagle’s news archives.

Watson returned to prison for life after he impersonated a police officer and kidnapped and sexually assaulted another woman – his 14th victim – in December 2010 in Wyandotte County. He was wearing a court-ordered GPS device at the time of the attack, according a news release from the district attorney and news reports from the time. His most recent sentence carried no option for parole.

The cause of Watson’s death has not been released.

This story was originally published January 9, 2015 at 8:36 PM with the headline "Inmate serving life for sex crimes dies in prison."