Televangelist Acton Bowen Sentenced To 1,008 Years For Sexually Abusing Children

https://www.patheos.com/blogs/progressivesecularhumanist/2019/12/televangelist-acton-bowen-sentenced-to-1008-years-for-sexually-abusing-children/

Acton Bowen, the evangelist who served as a youth minister for teenage boys and became a best-selling author was given the maximum sentence for all 28 charges related to sexually abusing six teenagers in Etowah County on Friday. The sentences are to be served consecutively which means Bowen would serve roughly 1,008 years before being released.

Before being arrested for raping and sexually assaulting children, Bowen, founder of Acton Bowen Outreach Ministries, was a wildly popular youth evangelist and the host of xlroads TV, “a worldwide broadcast viewed weekly by millions of teens and adults in every city in America and over 170 countries around the world.”

Reporting on Bowen’s popularity, ABC News notes:

The news of Bowen’s arrest in 2018 shocked many in east Alabama’s Christian community where he was considered a hometown hero. Bowen had served as chaplain for the 2012 Olympics, made appearances on Fox News, and promoted himself as a spiritual adviser to Hollywood Stars including Justin Beiber.



According to reports, Bowen offered his underage victims hundreds of dollars to perform sexual acts, victims he met through his youth ministry.