Dublin aids in Top 10 arrest

Thanks to a quick response and cooperation from local agencies, a top 10 most wanted sex offender was arrested in Stephenville.

“Within three hours, he was in custody,” said Dublin Police Chief Cameron Ray, who was alerted to the sighting of Joseph Darwin Watson, 52, in Dublin on Aug. 18.

Watson was added to the Texas 10 Most Wanted Sex Offender List on Aug. 4. Watson is described by Texas Department of Public Safety as a high-risk sex offender who is required to register every three months for life. He’s been wanted since October 2020, when a warrant was issued for his arrest in Hamilton County for failure to comply with registration requirements. In 1994, Watson was

In 1994, Watson was convicted in Llano County of two counts of aggravated sexual assault involving a 5-year-old. In 2000, he was convicted in Hamilton County of failure to comply with sex offender registration requirements. He was then released from a TDCJ prison in 2005.

In 2009, Watson was convicted of sexual assault involving a 47-year-old woman in Milam County and received a 10-year sentence in a TDCJ prison. He was discharged in 2018 and was registered as a sex offender in Hamilton.

“When they said he was on the top 10 most wanted list, I said, ‘In Dublin,’”

Ray said of the reporting phone call last Wednesday.

Ray and Sgt. Khris Jennings immediately took to investigating the claim and determined that Watson had in fact, been in Dublin and were informed that he was headed to an apartment complex in Stephenville.

The officers reported the information to Stephenville Police, who were able to apprehend him quickly.

Ray is grateful to all of his local law enforcement agencies and the citizen who reported the sighting.

“Without community involvement, he would still be out on the streets,” Ray said.