Pastor Acton Bowen Pleads Not Guilty In Child Sex Cases

BIRMINGHAM, AL - Youth minister Acton Bowen, facing multiple charges of sexual misconduct with children, has entered a "not guilty" plea by reason of mental illness. A grand jury in June issued six indictments against the 38-year-old Bowen, founder of Acton Bowen Outreach, on a total of 21 felony crimes and seven misdemeanors.

Bowen, founder of Acton Bowen Outreach Ministries, was taken into custody in Pelham back in April and transported to the Hoover City Jail where he was charged with sodomy related to a young boy in the Hoover city limits. This arrest prompted more charges in other jurisdictions after it was made public.

Bowen was booked into the Etowah County Jail about a week after the Hoover arrest on felony charges of sodomy and enticing a child for immoral purposes. He was also charged with three counts of second-degree sexual abuse. Bowen was accused of sexually abusing four juveniles between the ages of 12 and 17 over a "period of many years," according to the Etowah County Sheriff's Office. Reports from the Etowah County Sheriff's Office said many of the alleged victims are now adults. (For more updates on this story and free news alerts for your neighborhood, sign up for your local Patch morning newsletter.)

Court records show Bowen was arraigned on those charges Sept. 10. Circuit Judge David A. Kimberley noted in an order issued that day that in 19 of the charges, Bowen waived formal reading of the indictments and entered pleas of not guilty and not guilty by reason of mental disorder or defect. Those charges were for the crimes of actual sex acts. In the remaining counts of the indictments - which were for traveling to meet a child for an unlawful sex act or facilitating, arranging, providing or paying for the transport of a child for the purpose of a sex act - Bowen reserved arraignment pending a constitutionality challenge.

Photo via Hoover PD