Bowers taken to jail on probation revocation
A Soldier resident recently convicted of child sex crimes by a Jackson County District Court jury is now in jail, Jackson County Tim Morse said Tuesday.
Sheriff’s officers arrested Anthony W. Bowers, 49, that morning at the Jackson County Courthouse after his probation in a domestic violence case from 2013 was revoked.
Bowers was found guilty on March 31 by a jury on charges of rape, aggravated indecent liberties with a child and aggravated criminal sodomy against a girl who was five years old at the time, but he was released on bond after the trial. The charges stemmed from incidents that allegedly occurred between Oct. 31, 2012, and Dec. 25, 2012.
It was the second trial on the charges for Bowers, whose original trial in December 2014 on the charges resulted in a hung jury. At that time, Miller said Bowers would be tried again on the charges, it was reported.
Jackson County Attorney Shawna Miller had filed a motion to have Bowers placed in jail on remand to await sentencing, but District Court Judge Norbert Marek did not grant the motion. Until Tuesday, Bowers had been free on $50,000 cash or surety bond since March 27, 2014 — five days after he was arrested and jailed on the charges.
In the 2013 case, it was reported that Bowers had pleaded no contest to a misdemeanor batter involving a child who was five or six years old at the time, it was reported. Bowers was sentenced to jail for six months and placed on probation, which was revoked after Miller reportedly told Marek about the battery conviction.
No sentencing date has been set for Bowers in the case involving the sexual crimes, it was noted. Miller said a sentencing date is not likely to be set until a phone conference scheduled for April 22.
It was reported that each of the three convictions carries a presumed prison sentence of 25 years, but the sentences can be modified by the presiding judge.
