On Wednesday, Alaska State Troopers reported that they had yet again arrested 35-year-old Fairbanks man, Thomas Charles Watega, this time for Violating Conditions of Release and Unlawful Contact. He had been recently taken into custody for Sexual Abuse of a Minor in an instance involving a 16-year-old who worked at a Fairbanks store where he also worked as the manager. 

After being charged with six counts of Sexual Abuse of a Minor for that teen, he bailed out and moved to the Mat-Su Valley. Within a week of his release, Watega began trying to contact his victim on social media. When authorities discovered this, a warrant was issued to intercept this activity and caught him contacting the girl. “With the assistance of Palmer Alaska State Troopers, Thomas Watega was located and taken into custody without incident” according to the report.

As investigators looked into Watega they discovered an incident where he had sexually abused a four-year-old girl in 2021. As a result, a Grand Jury was convened in Fairbanks and on February 15th, Watega was indicted on five separate counts of Sexual Abuse of a Minor and a $75,000 warrant was issued. On February 16th, Watega was located in Wasilla and arrested. Watega once again bailed himself out before his arrest on violations on Wednesday.

  abuse, arrest, fairbanks, minor, sam, sexual, wasilla, watega