Enid man receives 20 years, 3 suspended life sentences for child sex crimes
Jun. 10—An Enid man received 20 years in prison and three suspended life sentences Wednesday morning on four felony charges.
Brice Gage Watkins was sentenced to 20 years for one count of manufacturing child pornography and to three life sentences with all but the first 25 years suspended for each of the three counts of lewd acts to a child under 12.
Watkins initially was charged on Aug. 14, 2020, in Garfield County District Court with one felony count of distribution of child pornography, according to court documents.
Later, on Aug. 28, 2020, he was charged with the felonies he was sentenced to on Wednesday: one count of manufacturing child pornography and three counts of lewd acts to a child under 12, who turned 1 year old last June.
According to an affidavit filed in the case, a woman contacted Norman Police Department on Aug. 11, 2020, after receiving videos of Watkins molesting a small child. The woman told NPD Sgt. Adam Crane she recognized the child and the house, which was located in Enid, in the video.
The woman said she could see it was Watkins and knew it was the house where the child lived because she was friends with the child's mother.
Enid Police Department Detective Tanner Austin, who testified at the sentencing Wednesday, said he spoke with an Enid woman on Aug. 13 who said she also received videos from Watkins.
The woman received the video on Aug. 11 but did not open it until the next day, the affidavit said. She said she saw Watkins doing inappropriate things to a child she knows, and that she knew it was Watkins in the video.
EPD announced on Aug. 14 that Watkins had been taken into custody by NPD, but NPD later clarified that he had not been arrested and that a 29-year-old homeless man who matched Watkins' description was contacted and apprehended by NPD.
The man refused to positively identify himself, and after NPD officers apprehended him, they determined he wasn't Watkins. The man was arrested on an interference complaint and booked, but he was released three hours later.
Members of the U.S. Marshals Service Lone Star Fugitive Task Force arrested Watkins on Sept. 10 at a known associate's residence in San Marcos, Texas.
He was transported on Sept. 28 from Hays County Jail in San Marcos to Garfield County Detention Facility.
According to court records, Watkins' time is concurrent for all counts in this case but consecutive to 2017 misdemeanor case where he pled guilty to one count of possession of controlled dangerous substance and one count of unlawful possession of drug paraphernalia.
Kelci McKendrick is police and court reporter for the Enid News & Eagle.
Have a question about this story? Do you see something we missed? Do you have a story idea for Kelci? Send an email to kelcim@enidnews.com.
