Columbia man charged with enticing student with drugs, sexually assaulting her

Lexington County authorities charged a Columbia man with criminal sexual conduct with a minor after he allegedly lured a student he knew away from school Wednesday morning, plied her with drugs and alcohol and sexually assaulted her, the sheriff’s department said on the department’s Facebook page.

Jeremy Adam Bowen, 37, was being held at the Lexington County Detention Center awaiting a bond hearing Thursday afternoon.

The student, who is under the age of 16, was treated and released at a local hospital.

In 2014, Bowen and his then-girlfriend faced charges involving meth use and unlawful conduct toward a child after a meth lab blew up in their mobile home off Alpine Road. The explosion led to a frantic search for the two and a 6-month-old child, who was found safe.

The two were accused of fleeing the state with their child after the explosion and after dropping off a third adult at the hospital on their way out of town.

The couple were arrested at a family member’s home in Alabama.

Bowen was returned to Richland County and in 2016 was convicted of possessing crack cocaine and sentenced to 5 years in prison. The “balance of the sentence was suspended with probation of two years,” records with the Richland County 5th Judicial Circuit indicate.

This story was originally published June 1, 2017 at 7:46 PM with the headline "Columbia man charged with enticing student with drugs, sexually assaulting her."