22-Year Old Medford Man Facing Multiple Felony Child Sex Charges

Eagle Point, Oregon- The Southern Oregon Child Exploitation Team (SOCET), a joint inter-agency task force, executed an arrest of a Medford man on numerous child sex crime charges today at 2:28 p.m. in Eagle Point. The Jackson County Sheriff’s Office (JCSO) and Eagle Point Police Department collaborated in the arrest at a business near the junction of Highway 62 and West Linn Road.

Through their investigation, SOCET determined that the suspect had been communicating with at least five underage victims across the country via various social media platforms. SOCET investigators have identified a 13-year-old victim from Kansas City, Missouri, and are working to identify other potential victims.

The suspect, identified as Zachary Elijah Bowen, 22, of Medford, was apprehended on 12 felony charges, including using a child in display of sexually explicit conduct, 10 counts of second-degree encouraging child sexual abuse, and luring a minor. He has been booked into the Jackson County Jail.

SOCET initiated their investigation into Bowen following more than a dozen cyber tips from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC), which led to multiple locations where he resided, including Portland and a licensed marijuana farm in Trail, Ore.

On February 7, 2023, SOCET served a search warrant at the marijuana farm in the 4700 block of Highway 227 in Trail, seizing digital devices for forensic examination by the Southern Oregon High Tech Crimes Task Force (SOHTCTF).

Evidence uncovered during this investigation revealed that Bowen had been communicating with underage victims across state lines using social media platforms such as SnapChat, Instagram, Kik, and Google under the username “zach_grant2152.” Those with information regarding Bowen are urged to contact investigators via the Sheriff’s App “Submit a Tip” feature or by calling the JCSO Tip Line at (541) 774-8333, referencing case number 22-4129.

SOCET was established in June 2020 as a collaborative effort between JCSO and Homeland Security Investigations to combat child exploitation and human trafficking. The task force includes investigators from the Oregon State Police and Medford Police Department, as well as prosecutors from local, state, and federal law enforcement partners in Jackson and Josephine County.

This case remains under active investigation, with detectives pursuing additional leads and working to identify further victims. The Jackson County District Attorney’s Office will handle the prosecution. No further information is available at this time.