Cell Phone Drive

The Pevely Police Department is collecting old and unwanted cell phones with chargers.  

The purpose of the collection, is to provide a way for victims of domestic violence and other crimes a means of contacting 911 in the event of an emergency.  Cell phones do not require an active line of service in order to contact 911.  Therefore our officers can give out the cell phones to victims at no cost.  

Your donated phone can be dropped off at Dispatch, located at 401 Main Street.  If you have any questions feel free to contact Sergeant Weiss, at 636-475-5301.

Your donations are appreciated and could save a life. 

Breaking Information: East Central Missouri Supply Possibly Contaminated with Hepatitis and Staph. 

Methamphetamine recently brought in from Texas, as well as the ingredients utilized to manufacture it, could be contaminated. 

If you have recently purchased, acquired, or made Meth in East Central Missouri the Pevely Police Department is requesting you seek assistance. Other Police/Sheriffs Offices in the area have seen positive results coming from Meth screening. Our Office is stepping up as a screening/collection point. 

Please bring your Meth to the Pevely Police Department, located at 401 Main Street, to have it screened. If a positive test is detected using our test ampules, a 100% safe collection will take place by our trained officers.

Pevely man, 73, charged with production, receipt of child pornography

A 73-year-old Pevely man apparently tried to commit suicide in the holding cell at the Pevely Jail on Monday night (Feb. 29) after being arrested on federal child pornography charges.

Pevely officers assisted St. Louis County and federal officers in serving the warrant on James Bowen, who lives in the 8400 block of Kenmon Court.

He is charged in federal court with one count of production of child pornography and two counts of receipt of child pornography. He was in a federal holding cell in St. Louis as of Friday (March 4).

Officers arrested Bowen at about 5 p.m. Monday. At approximately 8 p.m., he was discovered to have broken his glasses in his cell.

“He attempted to use them to dig out his artery,” Lt. Tony Moutray of the Pevely Police Department said.

Bowen was transported by ambulance to Mercy Hospital Jefferson in Crystal City, Moutray said. He was kept for observation overnight until he was picked up by federal agents on Tuesday and taken to St. Louis, where he was formally charged in federal court.

In an affidavit filed by Detective Amy Meyer, a St. Louis County Police special investigations unit detective who also serves as a federal officer, Meyer said she interviewed Bowen after his arrest and he admitted to downloading between 3,000 and 5,000 pictures and videos of child pornography over the last two years.

He also admitted to having sexual contact with a 13-year-old Pevely girl on more than one occasion and taking sexually explicit photos of her, the affidavit said.

It said an examination of Bowen’s computer by another St. Louis County Police detective revealed more than 50,000 pornographic images and 80 videos of suspected child pornography.

The case has been assigned to U. S. Magistrate Judge John M. Bodenhausen. Bowen is being represented by the St. Louis federal public defender’s office.

The penalty for production of child pornography is 15 to 30 years in prison, and the penalty for receipt of child pornography is five to 15 years. Each charge also carries a possible $250,000 fine.

Credit: Jefferson County Leader Publications