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Judge tells Valpo sex offender to get help for his own abuse
Times - 9/27/2021
Sep. 27—VALPARAISO — While sentencing a 28-year-old Valparaiso man in a child sex case Monday morning, the judge encouraged the defendant to get help for abuse he may have suffered.
Porter Circuit Court Judge Mary DeBoer sentenced Eric Wathern to two and a half years behind bars with one year suspended and to be served on formal probation.
He is also required to register as a sex offender and was told the restrictions from that registration will prohibit him from continuing to live in his current residence because of its proximity to the YMCA.
Wathern had pleaded guilty in August to a felony count of sexual battery and misdemeanor attempted voyeurism in return for prosecutors dropping a felony count of child molesting.
A woman told Porter County police in September 2019 that her daughter told her that Wathern had molested the girl, according to a charging document.
The woman also reportedly told police Wathern had placed a cellphone on the floor outside a bathroom while the girl was showering in a failed attempt to videotape her. The girl stepped on the phone, and the woman showed police the failed videotape attempt, which repeatedly showed Wathern's face.
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