Man Charged With Molesting Teenage Girl

A 50-year-old Post Falls man was being held in the Kootenai County Jail on Wednesday, charged with molesting his girl friend’s teenage daughter.

Billy J. Bowen admitted to having sexual contact with the girl during a five-month period ending in May 1996, according to a detective’s report. The 25 to 30 incidents were alleged to have occurred at the Post Falls home Bowen shared with the girl and her mother.

The girl told detectives the abuse began when Bowen snuck into her bedroom twice during an October 1995 night. Bowen told the girl not to tell her mother about the abuse, according to the report.

A counselor eventually discovered the abuse and called detectives.

Bowen was being held in lieu of a $100,000 bond. He could face life in prison and a $50,000 fine if convicted.

Prosecutors dismissed a similar charge against Bowen in February when they were unable to find the victim to serve a subpoena ordering her to testify at the trial.

The mother and her daughter, now 16, moved out of the house for three months after the girl told her about the alleged abuse. Both moved back in July, according to court documents.

Neither wanted charges filed in the case and refused to cooperate with prosecutors, according to court documents.

, DataTimes