Crystal Rogers update: Judge approves lower bond for Steven Lawson

By JIM BROOKS
Nelson County Gazette / WBRT Radio

Tuesday, Jan. 9, 2024 — Nelson Circuit Judge Charles Simms III approved a motion to reduce the bond set for Steven Eugene Lawson in connection with his arrest on charges in the Crystal Rogers case.

Lawson has been held on $500,000 cash bond since his arrest on Dec. 14, 2023. His attorney, Ted Lavit, requested a lower bond for his client at his client’s Dec. 21, 2023 court appearance.

Lawson’s attorney argued that his client had cooperated with investigators investigating Crystal Rogers’ disappearance. Prosecutors contend that Lawson left the state on Dec. 6, 2023, after he learned that a grand jury would be considering indicting him for complicity to murder in the Rogers case.

Lawson’s attorney said his client was sent to Indiana by his employer and stopped to visit his mother; however, the prosecution states that Lawson was absent from work that day.

The judge’s order recognizes that Lawson leaving the state the day after he learned of a possible indictment was suspicious, but there is no witness testimony so far that supports claims either by prosecutors or the defense.

Simms agreed to reduce Lawson’s bond to $250,000 cash with conditions that include having no contact with Crystal Rogers’ family or contact with any co-defendants. The bond conditions also include a dusk-to-dawn curfew, no out-of-state travel; no violations of the law; and that he remains drug and alcohol-free.

Lawson, 53, is the father of Joseph Lee Lawson, the first man arrested in the Crystal Rogers case. All three defendants — the Lawsons and Brooks Houck — are due to appear in Nelson Circuitl Court on Feb. 8, 2024.

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