Sex charges find fugitive

Deputies catch up with one of that county's most wanted, just over the line in Pasco.

By JOHN FRANK, Times Staff Writer
Published October 16, 2007

ARIPEKA - One of Hernando County's most wanted fugitives is behind bars after hiding from authorities for more than a year and a half.

Pasco County sheriff's deputies arrested Bill Eugene Plowman of Brooksville on Friday night in Aripeka after receiving word from Hernando deputies Plowman would be in the area.

The 47-year-old truck driver fled in March 2006 after Hernando deputies began investigating a 14-month sexual relationship he had with a 14-year-old girl, according to arrest reports.

The girl's mother reported the relationship to authorities after she discovered several letters Plowman wrote to the girl in which he talked about having sex with her, reports state.

Hernando deputies would not reveal Plowman's relationship to the unnamed girl, other than to say they were known to each other.

Authorities allege that Plowman began to sexually touch the girl in December 2005 when he would visit her parents at their home. On Dec. 25, he entered her bedroom after her parents were asleep and had sex with her, reports state.

She initially attempted to fight his advances, reports state, but later consented to the ongoing sexual relationship. The girl said Plowman would visit her parents often, become intoxicated and ask to spend the night.

On numerous occasions, the girl said, he would then sneak into her room and they would have unprotected sex.

The girl's mother confronted her in February 2006, after finding the letters and believing her daughter was possibly pregnant.

She also found photographs on her digital camera of her daughter having sex with Plowman, reports state. Deputies reported Plowman bought many gifts for the girl, such as jewelry.

Another witness interviewed by authorities said the girl told her about the interactions with Plowman and reported reading a letter the girl wrote in which she said she loved him and missed him, reports state.

Investigators called Plowman on March 1, 2006, and asked him to come to the Sheriff's Office for an interview, but he refused. Hernando deputies are unsure where he went during the last 19 months or how he managed to elude arrest.

Plowman is charged with 10 counts of lewd and lascivious battery and one count of sexual performance by a child. He was jailed in Pasco County pending a transfer to Hernando County.

John Frank can be reached at jfrank@sptimes.com or 754-6114.

[Last modified October 15, 2007, 21:55:34]