Convicted Sex Offender Set Free In West Virginia

MOUNDSVILLE, W.Va. (AP) – A West Virginia man serving a long prison sentence for sex crimes has been set free after a judge said a county prosecutor erred in instructions to a grand jury. A judge in Marshall County last week dismissed the case against Michael Daniel Bowman with prejudice, meaning the state cannot retry it pending a review. News outlets report the ruling means Bowman was set free and will not be registered as a sex offender. Bowman had served more than three years of a 28- to 70-year sentence. He was convicted in July 2017 of sexual abuse by a custodian, sexual assault and three counts of first-degree sexual abuse.