C ALI FORN IA’S OLDE ST NE W SPAPER
– E S T. 18 51
– Weekend Edition – mtdemocrat.com
FRIDAY, APRIL 25, 2025
VOLUME 174 • ISSUE 34 | $1.00
Slager sentenced to life in prison Chris Woodard Staff writer
Former Camino Union Elementary School District janitor Christopher Slager was found guilty of six counts of lewd acts on children in February and was sentenced to 150 years to life on April 11, according to the El Dorado District CHRISTOPHER SLAGER Attorney’s Office. The Pollock Pines resident was arrested by El Dorado County sheriff ’s deputies in May 2023 after receiving reports that a young girl claimed Slager had engaged in lewd acts with her. Identified as Jane Doe 1, she recounted instances of assault, oral copulation and anal penetration in 2020 when she was 7 or 8 at the time, according to EDSO Sgt. Brian Harris’ testimony. Another victim, identified as Jane Doe 2, came forward later during the investigation and detailed lewd acts Slager had performed on her when she was 10 years old and living in Los Angeles County in the 1990s. Neither Doe 1 or 2 attended schools where Slager worked.
Next arraignment set for alleged serial predator Chris Woodard Staff writer
A preliminary hearing was held April 22 for Joshua John Bowen, who was arrested in a December 2022 sting operation and again in June 2024 and now faces 97 felony charges, including possession of child pornography and other sex crimes involving minors. Bowen is being represented by Defense
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Attorney Jessica Davis and Deputy District Attorney Fiona Dunleavy is handling prosecution. Placerville Police Department Sgt. Addison Randall was the first witness called by the prosecution, who clarified details of his report regarding Bowen’s arrests in 2022 and 2024. Bowen allegedly contacted two boys via messages on Instagram, identified by the court as siblings John Doe 2 and 3, in the fall of 2022, Randall said. Conversations began as friendly before Bowen allegedly sent a link to a pornographic livestreaming site to Doe 2, who was 13 years old at the time. Bowen later suggested Doe 3 to meet up with him at a hotel and asked if he wanted alcohol, if Doe 3 wanted to bring friends and “if there were sexual acts he didn’t want to do,” according to Randall’s testimony. Doe 2 and 3 showed the messages to their father, who contacted police, which led to the sting operation in December 2022 when police arrested Bowen at the motel on Broadway, Randall continued. Doe 3 was 16 years old at the time. Police searched Bowen’s vehicle at the hotel and found ■ See BOWEN, page A5
Mountain Democrat photo by Shelly Thorene
Sen. Marie Alvarado-Gil, center, asks for input from the family of Taylen Brooks, who was killed in a mountain lion attack last year, after Senate Bill 818, also known as Taylen and Wyatt’s Law, passed with forced amendments in the Senate Natural Resources & Water Committee. The family chose not to support the amended version. Left to right, Malcolm Brooks, Bill Gaines, Sen. Alvarado-Gil, Aaron Brooks, Wyatt Brooks and Chief of Staff CA State Senate Cheri West.
Fighting for Taylen and Wyatt’s Law Sen. Alvarado-Gil, Brooks family object to amendments Shelly Thorene Staff writer
Senate Bill 818, also named Taylen and Wyatt’s Law, passed out of the Senate Natural Resources & Water Committee April 22 but lost much support after “forced amendments,” as described by author Sen. Marie AlvaradoGil, changed the nature of her bill’s intentions. “The version of SB 818 that passed the Senate Natural Resources Committee yesterday is not the bill the Brooks family and I fought for, but it has not been pulled. After consulting with the family, they chose not to support the amended version — a decision I fully respect,” Alvarado-Gil notes in a statement sent April 23. “Despite this, the committee forced those hostile amendments through — a shady, all too common tactic the Democratic supermajority uses to quietly kill legislation,” she continued. “I’m grateful to the Brooks family and to my constituents in El Dorado County for standing with us. I remain committed to finding a path forward and to delivering a bill truly worthy of the name Taylen and Wyatt’s Law.” As amended, the bill would not permit the use of hounds to “tree and free” mountain lions. The vote was 4-2 with Sen. Kelly Seyarto and Sen. Shannon Grove voting
Wyatt Brooks, above, who was injured when a mountain lion attacked and killed his brother near Georgetown last year, listens as lawmakers discuss SB 818, also known at Taylen and Wyatt’s Law. In support of her grandsons, seen at right, is Marie Brooks of Granbury, Texas. Below, supporters of SB 818 hold up signs at the hearing at the Capitol on April 22.
in opposition. The bill is specific to El Dorado County and the original version was drafted in response to a surge in attacks on livestock and the 2024 lethal attack on two brothers who were collecting deer antler sheds near Georgetown. In March
2024, a young male mountain lion killed 21-year-old Taylen Brooks and attacked his brother Wyatt, causing multiple injuries that required extensive surgeries. The amendments removed the permitted use of professional houndsmen and
hounds to proactively “haze” mountain lions away from areas where they pose a risk to public safety, pets and livestock in the pilot program and instead required the Department of Fish and Wildlife to “to ■ See LAW, page A5