From The Trussville Tribune staff reports

GADSDEN — Alabama evangelist Paul Edward Acton Bowen was sentenced to 1,007 years in prison on Friday following a guilty plea earlier this month on charges of sexually abusing six teenage boys.

Bowen, who is the founder of Acton Bowen Outreach Ministries, faced various charges ranging from sodomy, traveling to meet a child for sex and the sexual abuse of children aged between 13-16. He was charged in both Etowah and Jefferson County.

The Etowah County charges involve young boys that Bowen had met through his ministry. The boys claimed that Bowen sexually abused them during trips across the country, overseas and within Etowah County. A teenage victim under the age of 16 said that Bowen had sexual intercourse with him from 2006-09, while another victim claimed that Bowen abused him from 2014-17.

The Jefferson County charges surround allegations that Bowen had sexual intercourse with a boy between the age of 12-16. Bowen is still set to face trial in Jefferson County on three felony charges of enticing a child for sex, traveling to meet a child for sex, and sodomy. That trial is scheduled for April 20, 2020.

Bowen is also facing charges in Bay County, Florida, of lewdness and lascivious battery following the FBI investigating his trips with teenage boys across state lines.

According to media reports, Bowen was a host of xlroads TV, which was broadcast worldwide and reached millions of viewers. He had also served as a chaplain during the 2012 Summer Olympic Games in London and led a student Bible study in Gadsden. The Gadsden native was arrested in Hoover in 2018 and has remained in jail since.

Bowen was dealt the maximum punishment for all 28 counts that he had pleaded guilty to. Each sentence will run consecutively.