Victims, families react to Bowen Turner’s return to prison
ORANGEBURG, S.C. - More than six years after an Orangeburg County man was accused of his first of several sexual assaults and after several stints in and out of prison in the years since, he is once again returning to the custody of the South Carolina Department of Corrections.
One of the victims who accused that man, Bowen Turner, of sexual assault and the family of another victim are relieved Turner is returning to prison, but they are ready for his misconduct and alleged crimes to be over.
“It truly feels never-ending, and I don’t even think this is going to be the last time,” says Chloe Bess, one of the victims.
Turner, 22, is accused of sexually assaulting three teenagers in three counties in 2018 and 2019. Court documents show he also violated the of his house arrest dozens of times to go to golf courses, restaurants and sporting goods stores while out on bond for the assaults.
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While originally avoiding prison with a sweetheart plea deal and a probation sentence, Turner has since been in and out of prison following multiple other arrests and charges, including disorderly conduct, threatening a public official, driving under the influence and resisting arrest.
Turner’s return to prison this week comes after he used controlled substances and drank alcohol while on supervision, according to Chrysti Shain, the South Carolina Department of Corrections Director of Communications.
“Former inmate Bowen Turner has been ordered to return to SCDC for a minimum of one year,” she says. “Turner appeared before an SCDC istrative Review Hearing Officer Wednesday to address community violations of his Youth Offender sentence.”
There’s some relief to the victims and their families to have Turner out of the community, but their emotions are complicated by the process it’s taken to get here, they say.
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“Not being able to speak [at the hearings] like you have been the whole time is a little puzzling and troubling,” Karl Stoller says.
Stoller’s daughter is Dallas Stoller, the second of Turner’s three alleged victims. She died by suicide after being bullied following the assault.
The past two hearings with SCDC have been disappointing because the Stollers weren’t allowed to speak or even listen, Karl Stoller says.
“It was a little surprising since we have been able to speak [at hearings] since that original one where he received his original sentence back in 2022,” he says.
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According to SCDC, the Stollers were not allowed to provide input at Turner’s istrative review because they are not listed in the particular indictment connected to Bowen Turner’s sentence. The Stollers did have an attorney represent them in the hearing.
Karl Stoller says he believes Turner’s time behind bars and his addiction treatment actually preventing future arrests or other issues is unlikely,
“[Turner] gets out and keeps all re-offending,” he says. “I hope I’m wrong, but I have doubts as to whether he’s going to he’s going to be able to change.”
As for Bess, being forced to relive her trauma over and over again with every arrest and every hearing has been challenging, and the two hearings since [Turner’s] latest arrest are no different.
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“His behavior and his decision-making are what keep me in this position,” she says. “I’m just going to keep doing whatever I need to do to make sure that this does not happen to anybody else.”
No matter the number of arrests or hearings, however, Stoller and Bess both hope to use their experiences as a way to help other victims and their families across the Palmetto State.
“This is a situation that’s bigger than Bowen Turner,” Karl Stoller says. “You want to close the chapter, but at the same time you don’t stop advocating and pushing to try to get things changed to make things better for victims moving forward.”
Turner will receive intensive addiction treatment while incarcerated, according to SCDC.
“He is a troubled person,” Bess says. “He unfortunately is probably going to continue to make really bad decisions, and I hope that those decisions don’t involve harming somebody else. But my focus now is more about protecting myself and protecting other victims in situations like this.”
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