Howard Dotson, a former Boone County resident who has been living in Colorado, was returned to West Virginia on 96 counts of sexual assault.

Dotson arrived at Yeager Airport in Charleston escorted by officers.

“Captain Spangler, formerly of Boone County and now working in Logan County, went to Colorado and brought him back,” Assistant Prosecutor Parker Bazzle said.

Dotson has been wanted for 11 years on charges he sexually assaulted his four step- daughters. The girls were between 5 and 11years old when the abuse happened.

Howard Dotson Jr., 60, had been indicted Jan. 22, 1997 on 56 counts of rape, 20 counts of first-degree sexual assault, and 20 counts of third-degree sexual assault.

The 11-year-old warrant was sworn out in Boone County on March 31, 1998, after Dotson failed to appear in court the day before his trial was set to begin.

In October, Dotson was arrested in Colorado on a drunk driving charge, and that is where police realized he had a warrant for his arrest in West Virginia.

For Captain George Spangler of the West Virginia State Police, Howard Dotson has been on his mind for 11 years. The case was Spangler’s when he was a young trooper and he was determined to see the case prosecuted.

“We got him arrested and into court,” Spangler told the Coal Valley News when Dotson was captured in Colorado in October. “He kept firing his attorneys, and that postponed the trial several times.”

Dotson’s trial had been postponed four times, from March 11, 1997, to July 15, 1997, Dec. 2, 1997, and finally March 31, 1998.

As time passed, officers say they tracked the man to various parts of the country – from Indiana to Ohio, but never were able to find him. “A friend of the family told us that he was even seen in Boone County a number of times, but we were never lucky enough to catch up with him,” Spangler said.

While in the custody of the Colorado State Patrol, Dotson was held at the Mesa County Detention Center on a $260,000 bond.

The charges against Dotson allege sexual abuse periodically from 1971 until 1997. The indictments also indicate that these crimes took place while the victims were under the ages of 16 and under the ages of 10.

If found guilty of the charges, Dotson could face life in prison. He is being held at the Southwestern Regional Jail.

Regarding the denying of bail, Assistant Prosecutor Parker Bazzle commented, “It’s not a capital case, so it’s not automatically denied; it is at the discretion of the judge,” he said. “We will be adamantly opposed to him getting bond.”

Bazzle also stated that he not thoroughly briefed on whether the court had “ever go after the assets on the bond” from 1998. He said that he anticipates knowing the status of Dotson impending trial before Christmas.