19-year-old SC man handed probation in sexual assault case, outraging victim’s family
The family of a sexual assault victim expressed outrage after the South Carolina man accused of the crime was given probation upon pleading to a lesser charge on Friday.
Bowen Gray Turner, 19, had been charged with first-degree criminal sexual conduct after he dragged Chloe Bess, formerly of Orangeburg, behind a truck at a party in 2019, pulled off her clothes and sexually attacked her, the Times and Democrat reported. Turner was defended by Brad Hutto, who is also a state senator.
Bess later publicly identified herself as the victim in the case and she and her parents now live out of state.
Turner pleaded guilty on Friday to first-degree assault and battery for the Orangeburg County incident.
Turner was sentenced under the Youthful Offender Act and given five years’ probation. The sentencing also means he can avoid having to register as a sex offender as long as he obeys the rules of the probation.
Rev. Darren Bess, the victim’s father, railed in court against the sentencing.
“In reality, justice will not be served here today and this is but a formalized stage of a prearranged dance that was choreographed in secrecy, Bess said. “We have experienced a catastrophic failure of this system and it impacts my family daily.”
When Chloe Bess was attacked, Turner was already out on bond on a charge of first-degree criminal sexual assault with aggravated force in connection with a Bamberg County case.
A woman named Dallas Hayes Stoller made the allegations in that case, but she died suddenly on Nov. 24, 2021 and the charges were dropped, according to the Times and Democrat.
Sarah Ford of the Victim Assistance Network, which represents accusers in incidents, said during a press conference that she plans to appeal Turner’s sentence. Ford has already filed motions asking the court to approve taking Turner into custody immediately for more than 50 alleged violations of his house arrest, based on the GPS tracker he was wearing.
“There’s been issue after issue with this case,” Ford said in the press conference. “This defendant has ignored court order after court order and these victims have been told to sit and endure.”
This story was originally published April 14, 2022 at 5:00 AM.
