SALT LAKE CITY, Utah, March 11, 2025 (Gephardt Daily) — A Dallas man has been sentenced to 10 years in a Utah State prison after he admitted he tried to engage in sexual acts with an 11-year-old boy during a business trip to Utah.
Joshua Michael Bowden, 42, has been sentenced to 120 months after his conviction of coercion and enticement of a minor.
Bowden was in Utah on Sept. 28, 2023, when “he began engaging in an online conversation with an individual he thought was the father of an 11-year-old boy,” says a news release issued Tuesday by the Office of the United States Attorney, District of Utah.
“The individual Bowden was communicating with was an undercover officer. During communication, Bowden expressed his interest to engage in sexual acts with the 11-year-old boy. When Bowden arrived at the meet up location to act on his interest, he was arrested. A search of Bowden’s phone found child sexual abuse material.”
Acting United States Attorney Felice John Viti of the District of Utah made the announcement. The case was investigated by the FBI’s Child Exploitation and Human Trafficking Task Force. Assistant United States Attorney Joey Blanch of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Utah prosecuted the case.
