photo by: Kim Callahan/Journal-World

The Douglas County Judicial and Law Enforcement Center is pictured on Nov. 25, 2025.

A man was ordered to stand trial on charges of rape and aggravated sexual battery in Douglas County District Court after a woman testified Friday that he sexually attacked her on two occasions in 2024.

The defendant, Marlon D. Watson, is now scheduled for trial in June.

The 27-year-old woman testified that Watson, whom she met at their shared place of employment, raped her on her living room couch in August 2024 and sexually battered her at her home in Lawrence a few weeks later. In both instances, she testified, she had verbally declined his sexual advances by clearly saying no multiple times. In the first instance, he reacted by raping her, and in the second he grabbed her sexually and hit her in the face, she said.

Pictures of the woman’s face after reportedly being struck were presented to Judge Sally Pokorny but were not displayed in court.

Charges against Watson were filed in March of last year, and he was arrested on a warrant two months later. He is out of custody on a $50,000 bond.