Teen accused in sexual assaults faces new charges

ORANGEBURG, S.C. (WCSC) - An Orangeburg teenager who was sentenced to probation after entering a guilty plea to a charge of assault and battery now faces two new charges.

Bowen Turner, 19, has been charged with threatening the life of a public employee and the purchase or possession of alcohol as a minor, according to new court documents.

Turner was arrested early Monday for disorderly conduct and violating his probation.

Court documents state he threatened to bite off the finger of an Orangeburg County deputy when the deputy told him the Orangeburg County jail’s COVID protocols required Turner to wear a mask. An affidavit states he purchased and consumed alcohol at a North Road bar in Orangeburg County on Sunday night shortly before his arrest.

Turner was originally facing three counts of first-degree criminal sexual conduct but pleaded guilty to a lesser charge. Court documents state that while he waited for his court date on the three first-degree criminal sexual conduct charges, he violated his parole dozens of times by playing golf, going to restaurants and taking trips.

After pleading guilty to assault and battery in one of the assault cases, the charges in the other two cases were dropped and he was sentenced to five years of probation.

As of Thursday, he was being held on the charges.

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