Bowen Turner to return to S.C. prison after latest arrest
ORANGEBURG, S.C. (WCSC) - The Orangeburg County man accused of sexually assaulting several teenagers and violating bond dozens of times, among other crimes, will be going back to prison.
Bowen Turner’s parole was revoked by the South Carolina Department of Corrections Intensive Supervision istrative Review Authority, Department of Corrections spokesperson Chrysti Shain said.
Turner, 21, will now return to SCDC custody to serve his sentence under the S.C. Youthful Offender Act. To be sentenced as a youthful offender, the offender must be younger than 25 years old and have no previous convictions under the act.
EARLIER COVERAGE:
- Orangeburg County rape suspect freed after 16 months in prison
- Attorneys appeal guilty verdict, sentencing for Bowen Turner
- Judge denies bond on new charge for teen
- Judge grants restraining order extension to include Bowen Turner
- Victims’ attorney calls for investigation into Bowen Turner case
- Victim’s family asked to stop talking about S.C. sex assault case
- Family angry prosecutors dropped sexual assault case
Turner will serve a minimum of six months not to exceed a release date of April 2028, Shain said.
“While I was grateful to share this news with the survivors, my heart breaks because Turner should never have been on the streets again in the first place, endangering others,” Sarah Ford, the attorney for Turner’s alleged victims and the legal director of the S.C. Victim Assistance Network, said in a post on social media. “And the victims have to relive their experiences again and again every time he’s rearrested.”
Turner was originally facing criminal sexual conduct charges after being accused of sexually assaulting three teenage girls in 2018 and 2019. As part of a sweetheart plea deal in 2022, Turner pleaded guilty to assault and battery and was given probation.
MOLRE FROM NEWS 12:
Aiken County manslaughter suspect dies in jail custody
The Aiken County Sheriff’s Office has called in SLED and the Aiken County Coroner’s Office to investigate an inmate’s death at the Aiken County Detention Center.
Suspects in cross-burning no longer live at South Carolina home
A judge heard arguments over whether to evict an allegedly cross-burning couple from a Conway-area home, but found they'd already moved out.
S.C. crime victims demand more state funding,
People gathered at the S.C. State House steps to advocate state lawmakers to victims of violent crimes and their families in the fight for justice.
Weeks later, he was arrested again for a separate incident and charged with disorderly conduct, possession of alcohol by a minor and threatening a public employee. Court documents show Turner threatened to bite off the finger of an Orangeburg County deputy when the deputy informed him of the jail’s COVID-19 protocols which required Turner to wear a mask.
Following that arrest and probation violation, Turner was sent to the Department of Corrections, where he stayed for about 16 months until he was let out in Nov. 2023 on supervised release.
Turner was most recently arrested March 9. He crashed his car, narrowly avoiding another car and flipping his car multiple times, according to authorities. Turner was taken to the hospital where, officials say, he was argumentative, belligerent and extremely intoxicated, fighting with hospital staff and state troopers.
Turner was charged with disorderly public conduct, driving under the influence, resisting arrest, having an open container of beer or wine in a car and a seat belt violation.
Turner’s time in SCDC custody does not include any time he might get for charges in his latest arrest, according to the Department of Corrections.
Copyright 2024 WRDW/WAGT. All rights reserved.
