Former NWC professor sent to prison for molesting child

Posted 9/25/14

“I molested a child who I love dearly,” said Watne, an MIT graduate, a Ph.D. holder and a long-time Northwest College science professor.

“I grieve the impact this has had on the child, the child’s family and others,” said Watne, also a …

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Former NWC professor sent to prison for molesting child

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At a Monday hearing in Park County’s District Court, Bruce Watne was described as an upstanding man who has done many wonderful things for his family, his church, the Powell community and anyone young or old in need.

But Watne was in court because of the “awful” thing he did last summer: sexually abusing a pre-teen boy.

“I molested a child who I love dearly,” said Watne, an MIT graduate, a Ph.D. holder and a long-time Northwest College science professor.

“I grieve the impact this has had on the child, the child’s family and others,” said Watne, also a former church and Boy Scout leader. “I take full responsibility for what I’ve done.”

Watne, 69, received an 18- to 24-month prison sentence from District Court Judge Steven Cranfill after pleading guilty to a felony count of second-degree sexual abuse of a minor.

“It gives this court no pleasure to have a man of your reputation, educational background (and) involvement in the community here because of a really awful violation of trust to this young individual,” Cranfill said before pronouncing the sentence.

The judge — who declined to impose the seven to 10 years requested by the prosecution or grant the supervised probation asked for by Watne’s attorney and supporters — indicated that if it had been an option, he would have imposed a sentence that could be served at the Park County jail.

The child’s request, conveyed by a family member to the court, had been that Watne be put behind bars. In a statement, the child’s grandmother said the day after the molestation, the boy “kept asking over and over and over, ‘Why would he (Watne) do that?’”

The molestation took place in a matter of moments — “it probably seemed like an eternity to him, but it was probably five minutes,” Watne said — in late May 2013.

Charging documents in the case say that Watne had been sleeping in a bed with the child inside a motor home. The child later told police that he’d woken up to Watne touching his genitals. The child pretended to have stayed asleep and later told his family that “it was like a nightmare,” court records say.

The Park County Sheriff’s Office was notified, and deputies had the child place a recorded phone call to Watne.

The child asked Watne why he’d “played with his privates” and Watne responded that “he was just trying to ‘snuggle’ with him and that he was not trying to do anything bad, just trying to ‘love’ him ‘a little bit,’” Sheriff’s Investigator Joe Torczon recounted in an affidavit filed with the case.

When the child told Watne he didn’t like what had been done to him, Watne responded that “he was not trying to do anything ‘inappropriate’ or ‘hurt’ (the child); and furthered that he was ‘just basically trying to be a dad’ for (the child).”

When later interviewed by Torczon and another sheriff’s investigator, Watne claimed he’d only repositioned the child’s genitals because the boy had wet the bed. However, under oath on Monday, Watne admitted he’d touched the boy in a sexual way.

In her statement to the court, the child’s grandmother said Watne’s recorded statement that he was just trying to “love” the child gave her chills.

She spoke of the damage the abuse may do to the boy’s concepts of love and his trust of male role models.

“The impact on this victim is both current and future, but the future impact concerns me the most,” she wrote.

In his statement to the judge, Watne recited a long, detailed list of things that he wouldn’t be able to do for his family and others if he went to prison. He also spoke in detail about how “this whole thing has cost me a lot” — including giving up his job at Northwest College, losing his reputation and being unable to do any long-term planning while the case was pending.

Watne added that he couldn’t imagine what the case has put the child and his family through, and that he prays for them daily.

“I can’t undo the wrong I’ve done, but perhaps I can set up an educational fund to help the child’s educational expenses as a way of saying, ‘I’m very sorry for what I’ve done, I still love you and, even though I may never see you again, you will always be in my prayers,’” Watne said in closing.

A half-dozen friends and three family members testified to Watne’s character at the hearing.

Friends described themselves as “shocked,” “stumped and confused” and taken completely off their feet by what Watne had done. All testified to the ways Watne has served them and others — including his positive influence on other children and his connection with them. The friends described the abuse as an anomaly.

“They don’t see him as harmful or a threat to the community,” summarized Watne’s attorney, Nick Beduhn of Cody’s Goppert, Beduhn and Smith law firm. In arguing for probation, he noted a psychosexual evaluation that found Watne is a low risk of re-offending.

The psychiatrist wrote in part that “it would appear as if at some point Mr. Watne developed sexual curiosity and acted upon this. He rationalized the behavior, describing himself as an analytical person.”

Deputy Park County Attorney Tim Blatt thanked Watne for pleading guilty to the crime and sparing the child the difficulty of testifying in court. Blatt also said he had no reason to doubt that Watne has generally been a law-abiding citizen and a positive influence.

But the prosecutor said he’d considered those things before recommending seven to 10 years of prison time.

Blatt noted how stunned Watne’s supporters had been about the abuse.

“If adults can’t wrap their head around it, people who have known him for his whole life, ... imagine the victim’s confusion,” Blatt said, adding later that, “The victim is confused because this is a guy that he’s cared for, and this is a guy who’s done a horrible act against him.”

“In this case, I think the surprise, the mystery, the ‘taken off my feet,’ is an indication that low risk does not mean no risk,” Blatt added. “Anybody can harm a child.”

Watne was arrested at the conclusion of his June 12, 2013, interview with the sheriff’s office but was freed on a $25,000 surety bond two days later. His bond conditions required him to stay away from the victim and children in general.

Watne was taken into custody at the conclusion of Monday’s hearing.

Bruce Watne

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