FORT MYERS, Florida — The former Chillicothe physician assistant at the center of a Guardian investigation into child sexual abuse has posted bond and been released from the Lee County Jail, court records show.
Rufus Frank Lowman, 57, posted two bonds totaling $150,000 this week — one for $50,000 and a second for $100,000. Lowman, if convicted, is facing life in prison.
The release comes after weeks of Lowman remaining in custody following his transfer to Florida. As the Guardian previously reported, his attorney had sought to reduce his bond and modify conditions to allow him to return to Ohio under electronic monitoring, arguing he could not afford the original $250,000 bond. In a recent bond hearing, Lowman was granted a lower bond, but has to remain in the state of Florida pending trial.
Lowman faces two counts: lewd or lascivious behavior involving a victim between 12 and 16 years old, and lewd or lascivious molestation of a victim younger than 12. The second count is a first-degree felony punishable by life in prison. He has pleaded not guilty to both charges.
The case is the result of a two-year Guardian investigation. It was not until a two-year investigation by the Guardian and subsequent contact with the Lee County Sheriff’s Office that charges were ultimately pursued in Florida. Investigators were first contacted in May 2024 by the Guardian. Following that contact, detectives reached out to the victim, who alleged that Lowman — her former stepfather — sexually abused her over a period of years while the family lived in Lehigh Acres, Florida.
The victim’s mother told investigators she eventually became aware of the abuse when the victim was 18 years old. According to the affidavit, the mother recorded a conversation with Lowman in 2015 in which he allegedly made incriminating statements about the abuse. That same audio recording was released publicly by the Guardian two years ago — and notably, it is the same recording that the Ross County Sheriff’s Office had been in possession of for over a decade without ever charging Lowman. This case has raised serious questions about how sexual abuse cases are handled by the Ross County Sheriff’s Office and whether local detectives are serious about pursuing these cases.
Lowman, who previously operated Rose Medical Clinic in Chillicothe as a physician assistant, saw his Ohio medical license permanently revoked by the State Medical Board in September 2024. The revocation stemmed from improperly prescribing Schedule II controlled substances, including opioids with high abuse potential, to multiple patients without required supervision between 2022 and 2024.
The Guardian will continue to update this story as new information becomes available.