Rody L. Bowden, Sex Trafficking of a Minor, Maryland 2019

Baltimore, Maryland – In a shocking case of child exploitation, Rody L. Bowden, a 40-year-old man from Prince George's County, pleaded guilty to the federal charge of sex trafficking of a minor on May 7, 2019.

Bowden, who was a registered sex offender at the time of the offense, faced the federal charge for engaging in commercial sex acts with a 14-year-old ninth-grade student in late 2016 and early 2017. The victim was exploited in Anne Arundel County motel rooms and was even forced to create explicit content for online distribution.

According to the plea agreement, Bowden recorded a video of the victim engaged in oral sex with him on January 4, 2017. The next day, he uploaded the video to a streaming pornographic website, where it could be viewed by all of his followers. On September 4, 2017, Bowden emailed a copy of the video to another account that he controlled.

Bowden was previously required to register as a sex offender, stemming from two convictions for third-degree sex offenses in Prince George's County and Charles County. He has been detained since his arrest and faces a minimum of 20 years in federal prison, with the possibility of up to 25 years, according to the plea agreement.

This case was investigated by the Maryland Human Trafficking Task Force, a coalition of federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies, as well as victim service providers and local community members. The task force was formed in 2007 to discover and rescue victims of human trafficking while identifying and prosecuting offenders.

U.S. District Judge Catherine C. Blake has scheduled sentencing for July 30, 2019 at 9:15 a.m. Anyone with information about human trafficking can report it to HSI's tip line at 866-DHS-2ICE (1-866-347-2423) or by completing its online tip form.

Source: https://www.justice.gov/usao-md/pr/prince-george-s-county-man-pleads-guilty-federal-charge-sex-trafficking-minor