An Augusta man who has repeatedly abused and terrorized women pleaded guilty Tuesday, Jan. 11, in one of the cases pending against him.
Loren Watson, 35, pleaded guilty in Richmond County Superior Court to charges of aggravated stalking and terroristic threats. Judge John Flythe sentenced Watson to eight years in prison followed by two years on probation.
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On Jan. 12, 2021, Watson’s ex-wife was working at a barbershop when she saw Watson approaching the shop. She was able to get the door locked before he could enter, said Assistant District Attorney Jarryd Brown. Because she had a 12-month temporary order of protection, Watson wasn’t allowed to come near her.
On the 911 call she made, Watson can be heard yelling and banging on the door, which he was still doing when sheriff deputies arrived, Brown said. Watson also gestured at the victim a motion indicating a throat being slashed.
Watson’s ex-wife was granted the protective order for domestic violence twice in the past as well as after Jan. 3, 2020, encounter when Watson allegedly slashed her tires, busted the windshield on her vehicle, and broke the front window of her home with a rock. A month earlier, he tore up her home and car, threatened to kill her and fired a gun into the air inside an apartment.
Watson has pleaded not guilty in a second pending case of domestic violence. In that case he is accused of cutting a woman after threatening her with a knife on April 28, 2019. Watson was free on bond in that case when he committed the crimes in 2020 and 2021.
Sandy Hodson is a staff reporter with The Augusta Press. Reach her at sandy@theaugustapress.com.
