Towamencin man sent to prison for possessing child porn, other unlawful acts

NORRISTOWN — A Towamencin Township man was sent to a state prison on charges he possessed child pornography and had unlawful contact on a social media app with an undercover detective posing as an underage girl.

Thomas Albert Bowes, 40, of the 700 block of Springhouse Court, was sentenced in Montgomery County Court to 30- to 60-months in a state correctional facility, to be followed by three years’ probation, after he pleaded guilty to felony charges of possessing child pornography and unlawful contact with a minor in connection with incidents that occurred in October 2023.

Judge Thomas M. DelRicci ordered Bowes to have no unsupervised contact with minors while he is under court supervision.

Bowes also faces a 25-year requirement to report his address to state police in order to comply with the state’s Sexual Offender Registration and Notification Act, previously known as Megan’s Law.

An investigation of Bowes began in Oct. 4, 2023, when he began communicating with undercover detectives posing as an underage girl in the 9th grade on the social media application Whisper, according to a criminal complaint.

The undercover detective posted “Save me from school” superimposed over a photograph to which Bowes replied, “Gladly, Mmmm my favorite age of girls,” according to the arrest affidavit filed by Conshohocken Detective William Walter and Lower Merion Detective John Mick.

Bowes proceeded to engage in a sexually explicit conversation with the undercover detective who was posing as the child and sent the undercover detective a photograph of what he claimed was his penis, according to the arrest affidavit.

During the chats, Bowes showed an interest in meeting who he believed was an underage girl at a location in Lower Merion.

When the undercover detective asked Bowes for a personal photograph, Bowes allegedly sent a photograph depicting a male and female, which he retrieved from the female’s Facebook/Instagram account. Neither the male nor the female depicted in the photo gave Bowes permission to use their photograph in the chats, detectives alleged.

Bowes also pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge of identity theft in connection with using the identity of others without consent to further an unlawful purpose.

Detectives showed up at Bowes’ residence with a search warrant on Nov. 16, 2023.

“Thomas Bowes did admit he was responsible for the conversation on Whisper with what he believed to be a thirteen-year-old female, but his intention wasn’t to meet with her,” Walter and Mick alleged in the criminal complaint.

Bowes also admitted to sending the undercover detective a photo of his penis and the photo he lifted from Facebook/Instagram without the permission of the true owners.

“Bowes admitted that all the conversations and photographs were done on his cellular phone that he has,” Walter and Mick alleged.

When detectives reviewed the contents of Bowes’ cellphone they found seven videos and five photos of child sexual abuse material. Detectives alleged the videos and photos depicted girls between the ages of 5 and 13 engaged in sexual acts or poses.