Watterson found 'not guilty' of rape

BONNERS FERRY — A jury found a Sandpoint man not guilty Wednesday on a charge of rape after a three-day jury trial.

Brandon Michael Watterson, 41, was charged for an alleged incident involving a teenage victim that took place in November or December 2019, when she was 14 years old.

The alleged victim had already taken Watterson to court for child enticing in 2021, in which he received a plea agreement and instead the charge of injury to a child in Bonner County. He has since served his time.

In 2022, the alleged victim then told officials that Watterson had raped her, but that she had not recovered the memory until recently.

After deliberating for approximately two hours, the jury unanimously found Watterson not guilty of the rape charge.

A full article on the jury trial will be available online and in next week’s edition of the Herald.