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SALT LAKE CITY — A man from Texas has been sentenced to 10 years in prison for attempting to engage in sexual acts with a child while on a business trip in Utah.
Joshua Michael Bowden, 43, of Dallas, pleaded guilty to coercion and enticement of a minor in U.S. District Court. He was sentenced Monday to 120 months in prison, followed by supervised release for life.
On Sept. 28, 2023, Bowden traveled to Utah on a business trip and admitted to engaging in an online conservation with a man who said he was the father of an 11-year-old boy, court documents say.
"I believed that the father was sexually molesting the child. I told the father that I had never had the chance to 'play with one' myself. When the father told me that he had shared the 11-year-old boy with other men in the past, I responded, 'I'm down,' and asked for a time and a place," Bowden said in his plea agreement.
When Bowden arrived at the location, he was arrested by the undercover cop who was posing as the father he was communicating with. Federal prosecutors say police discovered child sexual abuse material on Bowden's phone after it was seized.
Bowden was initially indicted by a grand jury with attempted production of child pornography, transportation of child pornography, possession of child pornography and coercion and enticement of a minor. As part of his plea deal, Bowden pleaded guilty to the enticement charge and the other charges were dismissed.
Bowden will serve his sentence in the Seagoville, Texas, jail. This case was part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative aimed at combatting the epidemic of child sexual exploitation, the U.S. Attorney's Office for Utah said in a statement.
