Why is there no information on Riverside Fire Chief Robert Bowen's arrest?
No court case been filed and his name wasn't on the court docket
UPDATE: DA Theresa Wetzsteon eventually replied but didn’t really answer my question of why his name never appeared on the court docket, or why the actual case wasn’t filed. She did say it would be filed around his next May 30 appearance.
Riverside Fire District Chief Robert Bowen was arrested on Tuesday, according to Marathon County Jail records. He was expected to face charges of child enticement.
But if you were to search records, you would think it never happened. He’s now not on the jail roster (I presume because he paid his bond. More on that later.) He wasn’t in the court docket for Thursday, when he was to have his initial appearance. And there hasn’t yet been a case filed in Marathon County Court.
But he did appear in court yesterday, according to WAOW. There were several court appearances listed as “restricted.” Was his one of them?
Riverside Fire District has confirmed that the Robert Bowen arrested on charges of child enticement is in fact the fire chief of the same name. He is currently on suspension following the arrest, Riverside officials have said.
The Wausonian reached out to Marathon County District Attorney Theresa Wetzsteon to learn why the case hadn’t been filed yet and whether or not any delays had to do with the high-profile nature of the case. And why his initial appearance wasn’t listed.
As of Friday afternoon, Wetzsteon hasn’t responded to The Wausonian’s inquiries.
As of Friday there still isn’t a case filed against Bowen, despite that he apparently has a second case filed. According to WAOW, prosecutors asked for $250,000, but a judge set bond at $15,000 (cash). He no longer appears on the inmate list so he must have paid the bond. (That’s something typically found detailed in the case file, but as I said, as of yet there isn’t one as of 3 pm Friday.)
According to WAOW’s reporting, there appears to have been only one victim under the age of 18. He’s not to make contact with the victim, the victim’s family or anyone under the age of 18, WAOW is reporting. It wasn’t specified if the victim was a boy or girl, if they were any relation to Bowen or what the alleged circumstances were.
The allegations come at a time of controversy, coincidentally, between Kronenwetter and Riverside Fire District. Kronenwetter is considering forming its own ambulance service to better serve residents and save money. That would also cost Riverside money in a lost contract.
Bowen’s arrest has nothing to do with that, of course, but it adds more chaos to an already volatile situation.
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Sounds like they may have jumped the gun on this
Keep up the good work asking difficult questions. The lack of information on the case seems odd.