The S.C. Victim Assistance Network is asking S.C. Attorney General Alan Wilson to look into the handling of cases involving Bowen Gray Turner of Orangeburg.
The group, which represents the accusers in cases, wants Wilson’s office to review allegations that Turner violated his bond.
It is also asking the office to review the decision to drop a Bamberg County charge of first-degree criminal sexual conduct against Turner.
Turner, 19, pleaded guilty in April to first-degree assault and battery instead of his original charge of first-degree criminal sexual conduct.
He was sentenced to five years of probation in the Orangeburg County case. He’s not required to register as a sex offender unless he violates probation during those five years.
Turner was also accused of raping a different female on Oct. 7, 2018 in Bamberg County.
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She took her life on Nov. 14, 2021 and the 2nd Circuit Solicitor’s Office dropped that criminal sexual conduct charge.
Turner was under GPS-monitored house arrest while he awaited trial on the charges. The 2nd Circuit Solicitor’s Office has claimed a review of Turner’s GPS monitoring records showed repeated alleged violations of his bond, including ignoring curfews and going to places not approved by the court.
SCVAN’s legal director, Sarah Ford, said new issues arose after Live5News obtained emails and notes following a Freedom of Information Act request.
For instance, Ford claims there was a 10-day period in late December 2021 when Turner’s GPS monitor may have been disabled while he was allegedly receiving inpatient treatment at an out-of-state facility.
In Ford’s letter to the SCAG’s office, she questions “why Defendant Turner had to be admitted to an out-of-state inpatient alcohol treatment center on Christmas Eve, why the GPS monitor was disabled, and why his admission was kept a secret.”
She asks for law enforcement to determine if Turner was at St. Simons-By-the-Sea for addiction treatment. She also questions if and how Turner, who is underage, was able to obtain alcohol if he was under strict house arrest.
According to Turner’s Aug. 5, 2019 bond order, set by Circuit Judge George McFaddin Jr., Turner was only allowed to leave home between the hours of 7 a.m. and 7 p.m. for the following four reasons: attorney visits, court appearances, mental health counseling and medical emergencies.
McFaddin said during the bond hearing, “And when he leaves the house to go to these places, and those are the only places he can go, he is not to go shopping, go to any malls, any vacations, day vacations to the beach. It’s there and back. There will be no frolicking on those trips,” official court transcripts say.
Sen. Brad Hutto, Turner’s attorney, wrote to Miller about the alleged bond violations in an email dated April 4, 2022.
He claimed that Turner was in compliance with his house arrest requirements by 98 percent.
Hutto’s email said, “Bowen has been suffering with depression and had some serious bouts. His medication was changed around the first of the year and he is doing much better. As you know, he has been on bond with home detention over 974 days. As part of therapy for his depression, his doctor told his parents that he needed to get out of the house just a little bit.”
“On several occasions, his father took him to hit golf balls on a driving range. He never played a round of golf, they only hit balls from the range. It was always out of Orangeburg so that they would avoid running into victim’s families or witnesses. Again, he was always with his mother, father or grandmother,” Hutto wrote.
Turner is currently housed at the Orangeburg County Detention Center on charges of public disorderly conduct, probation violation, threatening the life of a public official and minor consumption of alcohol stemming from a May 8 incident.
Turner’s first appearance in General Sessions court on the charges stemming is July 25.
Hutto, Miller and Turner’s parents couldn’t be reached for comment by press time.