Travis Fowler TCAP Case: Bowling Green Sting, NC Arrest, Appeals

Travis Fowler appeared on NBC’s “To Catch a Predator” after being arrested in an October 2007 undercover sting in Bowling Green, Kentucky, where he had traveled believing he would meet a 13-year-old girl. He was convicted in 2009 for an offense tied to that sting, and his criminal record both before and after includes a 1995 arrest involving a minor, a 2014 arrest for entering a North Carolina elementary school while on the sex offender registry, and a 2015 statutory rape and statutory sodomy case in Missouri that sent him to prison for twelve years.¹

The 2007 Bowling Green Sting

Between October 18 and October 21, 2007, the Kentucky Bureau of Investigation, the Warren County Sheriff’s Department, and the Warren County Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office ran a joint operation with NBC’s “To Catch a Predator” and the online watchdog group Perverted Justice. It was the third such collaboration in Kentucky. Seven men were arrested over those four days, each charged with attempted unlawful transaction with a minor, a class C felony in Kentucky punishable by five to ten years in prison.²

Fowler was one of the seven. He was 34 at the time and living in Murfreesboro, Tennessee. Commonwealth’s Attorney Chris Cohron said prosecutors reviewed chat logs for every suspect to screen out entrapment concerns before charging.²

The 2009 Conviction

Fowler was convicted in 2009 for an offense arising from the sting. The charge grew out of his attempt to meet a person he believed to be a 13-year-old girl. The conviction triggered a sex offender registration requirement that would follow him across state lines.¹

The 2014 Arrest at a North Carolina Elementary School

Fowler registered as a sex offender in North Carolina in 2013, listing a Bolton address in Columbus County. The registration carried a 10-year requirement based on the out-of-state conviction from the Kentucky case.³

On April 14, 2014, Fowler, then 42, went to Supply Elementary School in Brunswick County, North Carolina, reportedly to attend an awards ceremony. The school used an electronic visitor verification system called Ident-A-Kid, which cross-references visitor identification against the national sex offender database. The system flagged him, school officials contacted law enforcement, and he was arrested and charged with a felony for violating the terms of his sex offender registration by entering school property.³¹

The 2015 Missouri Case

On October 10, 2015, Fowler committed sex crimes against a 14-year-old girl in Montgomery County, Missouri. According to court records, the offenses took place near a creek while Fowler, the victim, and a witness were traveling to retrieve music for a party. Fowler was 22 years older than the victim.⁴

He was charged with one count of statutory rape in the second degree and one count of statutory sodomy in the second degree. A jury in Montgomery County Circuit Court, before Judge Jason H. Lamb, found him guilty on both counts. The court imposed seven years for the statutory rape and five years for the statutory sodomy, to run consecutively, for a total sentence of twelve years, with credit for time already served.⁴

Appeals

Fowler appealed his Missouri convictions to the Missouri Court of Appeals, Eastern District, which affirmed the convictions in 2017.⁵ He then sought post-conviction relief under Missouri Rule 29.15, arguing that his trial attorney had been ineffective for failing to object to hearsay testimony from a deputy named Alex Brandt. After an evidentiary hearing, the motion court denied the request. On May 18, 2021, the Missouri Court of Appeals affirmed that denial, closing out his direct and collateral challenges in the Missouri case.⁴

Earlier Record

The Kentucky sting was not Fowler’s first encounter with law enforcement over a sexual offense. He had been arrested in 1995 for having sex with a minor. Details about how that case was resolved are limited in available records.¹

Timeline

1995: Arrested for having sex with a minor.
October 2007: Arrested in Bowling Green, Kentucky, during a “To Catch a Predator” sting; charged with attempted unlawful transaction with a minor.
2009: Convicted of an offense related to the sting involving a person he believed to be a 13-year-old girl.
2013: Registered as a sex offender in North Carolina.
April 2014: Arrested at Supply Elementary School in Brunswick County, North Carolina, for entering school property while on the registry.
October 2015: Committed statutory rape and statutory sodomy against a 14-year-old in Montgomery County, Missouri.
2017: Missouri Court of Appeals affirmed his convictions and 12-year consecutive sentence.
May 2021: Missouri Court of Appeals denied his post-conviction appeal.

1
WECT. Officials Credit Security System for Arrest of Registered Sex Offender on Elementary School Campus
2
Bowling Green Daily News. Seven Arrested in Sting
3
Port City Daily. Registered Sex Offender Arrested at Brunswick Elementary School
4
Ott Law. Travis James Fowler v. State of Missouri, No. ED108902
5
FindLaw. Fowler v. State, No. ED108902