February 2014 Man jailed for eight years for sex offences against girls A MAN has been jailed for eight years for sexually abusing young girls. Michael Bowen, aged 58, of Redstone Close, Church Hill, Redditch, denied 10 charges of indecent assault and gross indecency involving three victims. The former taxi driver found guilty of eight charges in relation to two of the girls, and sentenced on Monday at Worcester Crown Court to serve a total of eight years in prison. The offences happened in the Woodrow area of the town in the 1980s when the girls, who were known to Bowen, were aged between nine and 15. Detective Constable Andy Baxter of West Mercia Police said: “Bowen put these young girls through a terrible ordeal over a long period, which shattered their innocence and their trust in adults. “I would like to praise the victims for their courage in coming forward and reliving the traumatic events of some 30 years ago. “They have now moved out of the area and made a new start in another part of the country and we hope the guilty verdicts will help them to move on emotionally as well. “We also hope they can take comfort in the substantial sentence which has been imposed, knowing that Bowen has been punished for what he did to them, and that other children are protected from him.”