KALAMAZOO (WWJ) -- A Metro Detroit man has been charged in a sexual assault case that dates back ten years at Western Michigan University.
Last week, 29-year-old Caleb James Watson of Milford was arraigned in the 8th District Court in Kalamazoo for the rape of student in her WMU dorm room in 2013, Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel announced.
According to the Attorney General’s office, Watson was then 20-years-old when he allegedly used “force or coercion” to commit numerous acts of sexual assault against the victim, who was 18 at the time.
The two are said to have known each other because they lived in the same dorm building.
Watson has been charged with 4 counts of 1st degree Criminal Sexual Conduct, and 1 count of Assault with Intent to Commit Penetration.
The charges came as the result of a lengthy investigation by the Kalamazoo County Sexual Assault Kit Initiative (SAKI) — a project that is a combined effort of the Michigan Attorney General’s Office, the Kalamazoo County Prosecutor’s Office and the YWCA of Kalamazoo.
“The work of our department, in collaboration with the SAKI units in Kalamazoo and elsewhere, continues to show sexual assault survivors that justice is still a viable pursuit, even ten years on,” Nessel said in a statement. “Our hope and goal is that this pursuit leads to aid the healing process for victims. Investigations, charges, convictions; these are important elements of a broader process of securing justice and helping victims to recover.”
Watson was arrested for the crime on April 25 by the Michigan State Police Fugitive team in Livingston County, and his bond was set to $250,000.
If convicted, Watson could face a maximum punishment of life in prison. He will return to court on May 10 for a probable cause hearing.
Anyone with information on the incident is encouraged to contact SAKI Investigator Richard Johnson at 269-569-0515.
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