Substitute teacher from state of California accused of trying to get nude images from Callaway County youth

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

A substitute high school teacher from the state of California has been arrested after he tried to get children from Callaway County to send him nude photographs.

Matthew Bowman, 25, of Los Banos, California, was charged on Friday in Callaway County with two counts of child enticement and two counts of misrepresenting his age to entice a minor for sexual misconduct.

He is currently being held at the Merced County, California, Jail and awaits extradition to Missouri. He was arrested on Monday, according to a social media post from the Los Banos Police Department.

The probable cause statement says that beginning in February, Bowman began “quick adding” young girls in Callaway County on the social media application Snapchat. He allegedly told two girls – ages 12 and 13 – that he was significantly younger than his real age, but changed his age multiple times while talking to them, the statement says.

Bowman allegedly asked for nude photos of the girls, despite knowing their ages, and claimed he had family in Callaway County. He allegedly used a location feature in the app to tell the girls that he knew where they were throughout the day and that he wanted meet them for sex. One of the girls blocked him after taking screenshots of his messages, the statement says.

He also allegedly told another youth listed in court documents that he was thinking of applying for a job as basketball coach at Westminster College. Police from California wrote that Bowman is a coach at the Los Banos Unified School District.