A former Bakersfield Police Department detective faces 10 years in prison after pleading guilty Tuesday to possession of child pornography.
Christopher Kent Bowersox, 41, admitted to a single count in a plea bargain. A second count, and the possibility of a 30-year term, was dismissed in the deal.
Although the plea bargain permits a maximum term of 10 years, prosecutors have agreed to recommend to the judge that Bowersox be sentenced to four years. He's already been in custody three years.
At the time of his indictment – three years ago this week --- federal investigators said Bowersox downloaded child porn and chatted with a Florida man about kidnapping, raping and murdering boys in a foreign country where they'd be less likely to get caught.
He was arrested after federal agents closed in on the Florida man.
"That individual had engaged in numerous graphic chat communications with Bowersox," according to a news release from the U.S. Department of Justice in Sacramento.
"When Bakersfield Police Department detectives executed a search warrant at Bowersox’s residence, they located a computer and several digital storage devices that contained images of child pornography. Many of the images depicted prepubescent minors, and several depicted violence or sadistic or masochistic conduct," the release said.
Bowersox is scheduled to be sentenced in May.
