Hampton City Council voted Wednesday night to censure council member Chris Bowman for an incident involving a sex worker in January 2022.
At the public comment portion of Wednesday’s council session, a community member demanded Bowman be punished for soliciting sex and decried the fact that Bowman has faced no penalties.
The council didn’t address how they confirmed Bowman’s actions but he is named in the arrest warrant for Michael Eugene Brown, the man who he said extorted him.
Bowman has not been charged with any crime.
A censure from the city council is a way for members to show disapproval. Bowman won’t lose any privileges as a member and will continue to serve on the council.
Mayor Donnie Tuck declined to comment when asked how the council found out about the incident and whether Bowman will face any additional penalties.
Bowman himself brought the encounter to police attention in April of last year after he said he was robbed and extorted by a man who broke into his car and took his phone.
The man demanded $5,000 from Bowman and threatened to make the phone’s contents, and the encounter with the sex worker, public.
Bowman paid — but never got his phone back.
Vice Mayor Jimmy Gray introduced the the motion to censure Bowman, calling it “a matter of an emergency nature" and saying the incident has negatively impacted the work of the council.
“It has come to the attention of this council that council member Chris Bowman has engaged in conduct unbecoming of a public official," Gray said.
“Council member Bowman has demonstrated behavior that undermines the trust and confidence of the constituents he represents."
All other councilmembers voted to censure Bowman, who was excluded from the vote.
Bowman, 69, has been on Hampton city council since 2020.
He declined to comment on the situation, telling WHRO “enough has been said.”
