DAYTON — The longtime Germantown doctor who used morphine in order to sexually abuse teenage boys will spend the next 15 years in prison.
>>PREVIOUS COVERAGE: Germantown doctor pleads guilty to sexual battery
Noel Watson, 76, was sentenced Thursday afternoon in Montgomery County Common Pleas Court on 11 counts of sexual battery involving three different teen boys. The 15 year sentence was the maximum he could be sentenced as part of his plea agreement. As part of his sentence, he also will surrender his medical license and will be labeled as a Tier III sex offender.
“Watson used his position, possibly for as long as fifty years to sexually abuse his patients. The State was able to prove that he harmed three patients, all of whom were teenage boys. The State could have proven he harmed more but for the statute of limitations,” prosecutors said. “His aggressive behavior with more potential victims was thankfully combatted as the victims were able to withstand his advances.”
The 11 counts of sexual battery involved three different victims, where each was substantially impaired and unable to consent to any sexual activity.
The defense attorney for Watson has asked for a sentence of 10 years in prison.
Watson had suffered from depression and a degenerative disc disease that required multiple surgeries between 2010 and 2014, according to his attorney.
“Many years of severe pain and using pain medications caused Dr. Watson to become addicted. He self-medicated with Morphine and Demerol, and he abused alcohol for many years. He also struggled with the realization that he was bisexual. While his addictions were raging, he committed the crimes in this case,” said Frank Malocu, attorney for Watson.
“He is deeply remorseful for his actions, and given his age and medical conditions, the likelihood of recidivism is extremely low,” Malocu said ahead of sentencing.
>> Case of Germantown doctor accused of teen sex abuse involving drugs in hands of prosecutor
In October 2020, a victim made a police report about a sexual relationship he had had with Watson when he was a minor. The victim disclosed the sexual abuse during drug treatment for an addiction that he developed because of the frequent morphine injections, prosecutors said.
“Because Germantown is a small, tight knit community, word of Watson’s secret began to filter out. Inevitably, more victims came forward,” prosecutors said.
Two additional victims were identified, interviewed with investigators, and were found to have also been sexually assaulted by Watson, according to prosecutors.
The sexual assaults Watson took place between 2005 and 2018, but prosecutors said they have “zero doubt that there are more victims that have not come forward.”
Prosecutors vetted other victims that did come forward “regarding conduct stretching all the way back to the 1980′s and 90′s,” court records read.
“The disclosed conduct from those eras was additional, criminally chargeable conduct, but unfortunately far beyond the statute of limitations,” prosecutors said in court filings ahead of sentencing.
The sex crimes happened at Watson’s office, his home and extended to the Germantown EMT building to which Watson had access because of his high profile role as a medical doctor in the community, according to prosecutors.
“It is clear that he acted in an egregious, outrageous manner for a very long period of time,” prosecutors said. “Not only is he a disgrace to the medical profession, but a terrible, dangerous human being.”
Watson was suspended July 14 after the medical board issued a notice of summary suspension to the doctor.