Bowen Turner served with warrant, may be in violation of release, Corrections Dept. says

Following his latest arrest, a South Carolina man with a series of run-ins with the law — including two allegations of rape — may be headed back to a state prison.

Bowen Turner, who was charged with DUI in Florence County last weekend, may be found in violation of the conditions set when he was released in November, 16 months into a four-year youthful offender sentence for assault and battery. Turner, 21, pleaded guilty to the first-degree assault charge in April 2022 after being accused of multiple instances of raping young women.

The South Carolina Department of Corrections has served Turner with a Youthful Offender Arrest Warrant alleging Turner violated several conditions of his release under the Youthful Offender Act, department spokesperson Chrysti Shain said in a written statement.

Turner was arrested by the South Carolina Highway Patrol Saturday, less than four months after his release from prison. He was charged with driving under the influence, resisting arrest, public disorderly conduct, having an open container of beer or wine in a motor vehicle, and failure to wear a seat belt, according to records obtained from the Florence County Sheriff’s Office.

The conditions of Turner’s release from the South Carolina Department of Corrections included obeying all federal, state and local laws and following advice and instructions from his supervising officer, Shain said. He was released on Nov. 15, 2023, according to the state Department of Corrections.

Turner will remain in custody at the Florence County Detention Center until he appears before a Department of Corrections administrative review hearing officer. The statement provided by the corrections department did not indicate whether a date had been set for that review.

Shain said the officer will review his case and make a recommendation to the Department of Correction’s Intensive Supervision Administrative Review Authority, or ISARA, which oversees the release of youthful offenders. The three-person body, which approved Turner’s release in September 2023, will then determine whether Turner violated the conditions of that release.

Sentences for inmates incarcerated under the Youthful Offender Act are indeterminate, and the amount of time they are imprisoned is determined partly by their behavior and completion of required programming. The sentences are reviewed by the ISARA, which evaluates whether inmates charged as youthful offenders have met the conditions of their sentence. The reviews are conducted every two months after the offender serves a pre-set number of months, determined by the Department of Corrections.

Turner was released after his third review. He was initially denied release following a May 11, 2023, review because the board determined he needed additional programming. The second denial came on July 17, 2023, “because the ISARA board considered community opposition,” according to a statement provided by Shain.

Since 2019, Turner’s case has drawn public scrutiny as advocates say it is proof of a system that favors defendants over victims.

Turner was charged with first degree criminal sexual conduct in Bamberg County in January 2019, and again in Orangeburg County in June the same year. The charges in the Bamberg case were dropped following victim Dallas Stoller’s death by suicide in November 2021.

The next April, Turner pleaded guilty to a lesser charge of first degree assault and battery for his attack on Chloe Bess, the victim in the Orangeburg case . Turner was sentenced to five years probation under South Carolina’s Youthful Offender Act. The act allows discretion in sentencing for defendants who meet a range of criteria, including those between the ages of 17 and 25 charged with a felony where the maximum punishment is 15 years imprisonment.

While it is not the practice of The State to name victims of sexual assault, Bess has become a prominent advocate for victims and has called for lawmakers to better defend victims of sexual and violent crimes.

In May 2022, Turner violated his probation when he was arrested and charged with being a minor in possession of alcohol and threatening the life of a public official. Reports at the time said that Turner threatened to bite off the finger of an Orangeburg County deputy who told him that the jail’s COVID policy required that Turner wear a mask.

He was re-sentenced to four years in prison, the maximum consecutive imprisonment sentence allowed under the Youthful Offender Act.

Turner was also required to register as a sex offender with the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division.