Texas summer camp director spent camp funds on personal expenses, OnlyFans subscription

PANTEGO, Texas - The former leader of a Christian summer camp in North Texas pleaded guilty to embezzling hundreds of thousands of dollars from the camp for personal use.

Former camp director misused camp funds

What we know:

Blake Bowman pleaded guilty in February to misusing funds intended for Camp Thurman between 2021 and 2022.

Court filings show Bowman had been accused of linking his PayPal account to Camp Thurman's bank account, as well as using the camp's credit cards to pay for personal expenses.

The exact amount of misused funds remains unknown. Investigators tracked more than $1 million tied to various accounts to Bowman.

Bowman pleaded guilty to misapplication of property as a fiduciary and theft of property, with each charge valued at a minimum of $300,000.

Investigators found evidence Bowman used camp funds on a subscription to the adult-oriented platform OnlyFans.

Bowman was arrested in May 2024 after an investigation. After posting bail, he was re-indicted in Jan. 2025 after new allegations surfaced.

Who is Blake Bowman?

Dig deeper:

Blake Bowman worked as the executive director at Camp Thurman in Pantego for eight years. 

He had previously worked as a teacher at multiple North Texas school districts. 

Bowman served as a fourth-grade teacher at Weatherford ISD during the 2022-23 school year, and worked at Burleson ISD from 2023 to 2025 before resigning last August.

What is Camp Thurman?

Camp Thurman is a Christian summer camp located in Pantego, Texas, a city southwest of Arlington.

The camp's website says it has been open since 1969, hosting 25 campers in its first summer but has grown to host over 6,000 campers each summer.

Defense attorney explains

What they're saying:

"I hate that someone in that type of position would, you know, take advantage of an organization that's trying to do really good things, and I hope that he gets a fair sentencing," Alexandra Lockton, a criminal defense attorney not associated with the case, told FOX 4's Vania Castillo.

"A lot of times in cases like this, sometimes the money goes in so many different directions that it can be unclear exactly what funds were misappropriated," Lockton continued. "They're looking for money that was either in the company's accounts or money that was intended for the accounts that were either missing that can't be identified."

"I think what matters the most is the fact that the personal account can be tied to where the money came, you know, came from."

What's next:

The next step in the case will be sentencing. Bowman's sentence could range anywhere from 5 years to 99 years in prison.