U.S. sex offender serving sentence in Canada arrested at Canada-U.S. border

ST. CATHARINES, Ont. - An American schoolteacher sentenced to three years' probation in Canada for a sex offence involving a teen was reportedly arrested Thursday when he tried to enter the country from the United States.

Hamilton's CH News reported that Malcolm Watson was arrested by Canadian officials while returning from a court appearance in Buffalo, N.Y. On Monday, the 35-year-old Watson pleaded guilty in Buffalo to endangering the welfare of a child, and sexual abuse in the third degree.

He was sentenced to serve his probation in Canada as part of a plea agreement.

The former teacher in Buffalo has lived in Ontario with his wife and three children for four years, most recently in St. Catharines, Ont., a short drive from the Canada-U.S. border.

The sentence infuriated Canadian politicians, including Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty, who warned against the province becoming a "dumping ground" for U.S. offenders.

Reached in Buffalo, Watson's American lawyer Oscar Smukler said he was unaware his client had even been back in the U.S. and had no details about the circumstances of his arrest.

Smukler blamed the media for turning the case into a "political football" by blowing it out of all proportion.

"The press has made him out to be some kind of high-risk criminal," Smukler said. "He was convicted of having kissed a young lady and touched her breast outside her clothing."

Watson has engaged a Canadian immigration lawyer, but Smukler would not say who it is.
The Canadian Border Services Agency refused to discuss the case, referring all calls to the office of federal Public Safety Minister Stockwell Day. Calls to the ministry were not immediately returned.

The sentence will be rendered null and void if Watson is deported to the U.S., where he faces a year in jail.

As part of the sentence, Watson was declared a Level 1 sex offender, ordered to surrender a DNA sample, and forbidden from re-entering the U.S., except for probation hearings.

© The Canadian Press 2006