Daniel Bowling was arrested by Orlando police this week after allegedly trying to meet up with a 15-year-old girl who turned out to be an undercover officer.
According to detectives, the professional golfer contacted a decoy on AdChat in early April, and his conversations with the decoy posing as a 15-year-old girl quickly turned sexual. Bowling is said to be facing obscene communication, traveling to meet with a minor and attempted lewd and lascivious molestation charges, according to ClickOrlando.
Some of the charges Bowling is facing were explicitly criminalized in a Florida law entitled the Computer Pornography and Child Exploitation Prevention Act.
Jennifer Wing is assigned to the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force and spoke on the incident.
“Unfortunately, there are potentially hundreds of predators like Mr. Bowling online,” Wing said via Spectrum News 13. “I hope news of today’s arrest encourages parents to be more proactive in monitoring their children’s lives online.”
Bowling has not competed professionally since 2016, when he competed in a lower tour in Canada. His last appearance came on the Mackenzie Tour’s National Capital Open to Support Our Troops in 2016, but he missed the cut. Bowling has just seven career starts on the Tour, and never competed on the PGA Tour.
