Steven Wayne Bower of Ojai sentenced 55 years to life for the molestation of two children

VENTURA COUNTY, Calif. – Ventura County District Attorney Erik Nasarenko announced Tuesday that Steven Wayne Bower of Ojai was sentenced to 55 years to life after he was convicted of three felony counts of child molestation in September of 2024.

According to the Ventura County District Attorney's Office, between 2003 and 2011, Bower molested two young girls.

One of the survivors was assaulted while on a camping trip with Bower when she was nine-years-old. She fell asleep in a camping trailer and awoke to find Bower touching her inappropriately explained the Ventura County District Attorney's Office in a press release Tuesday.

The second survivor shared two incidents where Bower molested her detailed the Ventura County District Attorney's Office.

The first was when she was five or six and Bower was babysitting her in her home and the second was during a camping trip a few months after the first incident stated the Ventura County District Attorney's Office.

The Ventura County District Attorney's Office shared that Bower was a close family friend of both girls' families.