Joplin man waives hearing on statutory rape charge

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Apr. 29—A 28-year-old defendant waived a preliminary hearing Thursday in Jasper County Circuit Court on a charge that he had sex with a minor.

Seth C. Watters, of Joplin, waived the hearing and was ordered to stand trial on a count of second-degree statutory rape. Associate Judge Joseph Hensley set his initial appearance in a trial division of the court for May 16.

The case originated with a tip Facebook sent the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children in July 2021 regarding a suspected image of child pornography that showed up in a chat session.

Facebook preserved the account involved at the request of the center, along with samples of text communications between the account belonging to Watters and a second account belonging to a juvenile.

The information was passed on to an investigator with the Jasper County Sheriff's Department who interviewed Watters in November. A probable-cause affidavit states Watters admitted during the interview that he had sent a sexually explicit picture of himself to a girl who lives near Carthage.

An interview of the girl at the Children's Center in Joplin resulted in the discovery that Watters had sex with her when she was between 14 and 16 years old.