Press Conference
Comments of Mathias H. Heck, Jr.
Re: State v. Dennis Bowling
2006-CR-4934
1-11-07
The Montgomery County Grand Jury has
indicted 47 year old DENNIS BOWLING for an additional 65 charges in
connection with his inappropriate sexual activity with teenage girls.
This defendant was previously indicted on November 29, 2006 on 11
charges. This brings to 76, the number of charges against this
individual. They are:
From the earlier indictment:
·
11 counts Sexual Battery
(clergy) (F3)
From the new indictment:
·
1 count Sexual
Imposition (M3)
·
1 count Gross Sexual
Imposition <13 (F3)
·
1 count Sexual Battery
<13 (cleric) (F2)
·
62 counts Sexual Battery
(cleric) (F3)
This defendant now faces over 370
years in the penitentiary, and over $74,000 in fines.
This individual, a pastor at Kingdom
Harvest Church in Riverside, Ohio for the past 19 years,
used his position of authority, and his church, for his own personal
gratification. All seven victims in this case, for which these
charges originate, were teenage girls and members of his congregation.
These victims ranged in age from 12 to 18.
This defendant would show his interest
in a young girl in his congregation and then progress from being a
mentor to having sexual relations. This conduct began approximately
December, 1996 and continued to November 2006. This conduct occurred
in the church office, the defendant’s house, a victim’s home, a
parishioner’s home, the defendant’s farm, and even during church
outings to Florida, Maryland and Haiti.
This defendant is the very definition
of a sexual predator. To protect our children, we cannot allow
activity like this to happen. As parents, we need to be aware of
where our children are, and what they are doing. In this case, even
though the juveniles were with the church minister, we need to be
aware of what is going on – what they are doing. The message here:
know what your kids are doing; talk to your kids.
The defendant is currently being held
in the Montgomery County Jail on $1,000,000 bond.
