West Virginia Man Sentenced to 30 Years in Prison for Aggravated Sexual Abuse of a Child Abroad

Dustin Stover Bowles, 42, of West Virginia, was sentenced to 30 years in prison for aggravated sexual abuse of a child under the age of 12.

According to court documents and evidence presented at trial, between September 2006 and December 2006, Bowles sexually abused a minor while he babysat her at his home. The victim disclosed the abuse to several trusted adults in 2020, as well as Army criminal investigators. Bowles was later charged under the Military Extraterritorial Jurisdiction Act. At the time of his criminal conduct, Bowles had been on active duty with the Army stationed in Hanau, Germany.

At trial, witnesses testified that Bowles frequently babysat the minor victim and described Bowles as a fun "uncle." The victim testified that when the defendant babysat her in 2006, Bowles reached his hand into her pants underneath her underwear and directly touched her genitals while she pretended to be asleep. The victim was eight years old when Bowles sexually abused her. Additionally, three other victims testified that the defendant sexually abused them while they were asleep, including one victim who was a minor at the time of the sexual abuse. On April 17, a jury convicted Bowles of aggravated sexual abuse of a minor under the age of 12 while abroad as a member of the armed forces.

Assistant Attorney General A. Tysen Duva of the Justice Department's Criminal Division, U.S. Attorney Moore Capito for the Southern District of West Virginia, and Assistant Director Heith Janke of the FBI's Criminal Division made the announcement.

The FBI and the U.S. Army's Criminal Investigation Division investigated the case.

Trial Attorney Eduardo Palomo of the Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS) and Assistant U.S. Attorney Jennifer Rada Herrald for the Southern District of West Virginia are prosecuting the case.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by U.S. Attorneys' Offices and CEOS, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to better locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, visit www.justice.gov/psc.