LA MARQUE — A U.S. Navy recruiting officer was arrested Wednesday at his office in Mall of the Mainland and charged with sexually assaulting three underage girls.

LA MARQUE P.D.

Douglas Bowie

Douglas Nathaniel Bowie, 31, of La Marque, was charged with two counts of aggravated sexual assault of a child and one count of attempted sexual assault of a child, La Marque police said. He was being held in the Galveston County jail on a $240,000 bond.

More charges could come pending DNA test results, La Marque Police Sgt. Geoff Price said.

Price said police have been investigating Bowie for years.

The most recent case in which Bowie was charged stems from an attack alleged to have happened three weeks ago, but other cases are seven years old, Price said.

The victims who claimed to have been sexually assaulted ranged from 6 years old to 16 years old, Price said.

The charges allege Bowie used his military position to intimidate the girls, whom he would invite to spend the night at his house and to befriend a relative living with him, Price said.

La Marque Police have investigated claims girls made against Bowie “numerous times” in the past 10 years, Price said. He said that, in previous times, the girls have retracted their statements before officers filed charges.