Wisconsin Man Pleads Guilty in Federal Court to Attempted Coercion and Enticement of a Minor and Attempted Transfer of Obscene Material to a Minor

United States Attorney Ronald C. Gathe, Jr. announced that James Tyra Bowman, age 30, of Appleton, Wisconsin, pled guilty before U.S. District Judge Brian A. Jackson to attempted coercion and enticement of a minor and attempted transfer of obscene material to a minor. As a result of his convictions, Bowman faces potential life in prison, a $250,000 fine, and up to a lifetime period of supervised release-which includes sex offender registration requirements.

According to admissions made during his plea, Bowman used social media applications and the name "Genius_Outlaw" to attempt to convince someone he believed was an 11-year-old girl to have an illegal sexual relationship with him. Bowman offered her gifts to entice her to engage in the sexual acts. The 11-year-old girl was actually an undercover law enforcement officer. Bowman also sent the undercover officer a picture of himself and his penis and demanded that she send him sexually explicit videos and images of her. Bowman also planned an arrangement where Bowman would have the supposed 11-year-old girl (undercover officer) for a period to train her in illegal sex acts in Wisconsin. Bowman was arrested by law enforcement in January of this year.

This matter was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Edward H. Warner, who also serves as Deputy Criminal Chief.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse, launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by U.S. Attorneys' Offices and CEOS, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to better locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit http://www.justice.gov/psc.