Earlier this week locally famous Alabama evangelical Acton Bowen was arrested on multiple charges of sex with a boy under 16 years old. Now his wife says she’s physically afraid of him and wants a divorce, a restraining order, the house, and her maiden name back.
The Birmingham Herald reports:
Ashley Nabors Bowen filed for divorce from Acton Bowen on Thursday in Etowah County, according to court records made public Friday. The couple married in 2015 and lived together until Tuesday, when the 37-year-old founder of Acton Bowen Outreach Ministries was taken into custody by Hoover police.
In addition to the divorce complaint, Ashley Bowen also asked for emergency temporary possession of their Etowah County home. “She fears for her immediate safety from (her husband) and any third parties that may attempt to contact (her husband) as a result of the crimes for which he has been alleged to have committed.”
The complaint notes that Acton Bowen is living with other family members. It also asks for an immediate order prohibiting Acton Bowen from any communication or contact for the purposes of harassing, threatening, intimidating or assaulting her.
Yesterday Roy Moore’s attorney, Trenton Garmon, resigned from the board of Bowen’s ministry. According to Garmon, Bowen had enrolled in a paid web filtering program called Covenant Eyes, which supposedly alerts an “accountability partner” when the allegedly godly Christian surrenders to his boner and views internet porn.
Additionally, Garmon claims that Bowen was supposed to be abiding by the so-called “Billy Graham Rule” and never be alone with a female other than his wife or with a male under 16 years old. Garmon acknowledges that the second half of that rule “was not always honored.” As it turns out, Dan Savage has some photo evidence about that.
Heavy.com has published an extensive report on the criminal charges, Bowen’s ministry, his false claim of being a Fox News contributor, his best-selling books, and his ties to major evangelical figures including a GOP candidate for governor of Alabama. Bowen faces decades in prison.