‘It’s not right.’ Crystal Rogers’ mom, denied visits with grandson, hosts rally
BARDSTOWN — Sherry Ballard has lost her daughter, Crystal Rogers; her husband, Tommy Ballard; and now it appears she’s lost her grandson as well.
Last month, a judge issued an order denying Sherry Ballard visitation rights with her grandson, Rogers’ youngest son. Rogers has been missing since 2015. Tommy Ballard was shot and killed the following year, leaving Sherry Ballard to raise Rogers’ other children alone.
On Saturday, Ballard hosted a rally in Bardstown to plead for grandparents’ rights laws to be strengthened in Kentucky, saying she was “devastated” by the ruling.
“I want visitation of my grandson,” she said.
About 100 people lined both sides of the road in front of the Nelson County Justice Center Saturday, chanting and carrying signs.
The boy, now 8, is cared for by his father, Brooks Houck, who was Rogers’ boyfriend at the time of her disappearance. Houck was previously named as a suspect in Rogers’ disappearance, but he has not been charged in the case.
The child was 2 years old when his mother went missing and had, until then, shared a close relationship with his maternal grandparents, court records state.
After Rogers’ disappearance, the Nelson Circuit Court granted visitation to Sherry Ballard, but those visits stopped after a Kentucky Court of Appeals ruling reversed the decision in 2018.
The case made its way back to Nelson Circuit Court, where an order was entered last month that again denied Ballard visitation rights.
“I want the visitation that I did have,” Ballard said Saturday. “It was going really good. We had no problems at all.”
In an order filed Feb. 20, Judge Stephen Hayden wrote, “The court finds there is clear and convincing evidence significant hostility exists between the Ballard family and Houck such that it poses a significant risk of emotional harm to E.P.H. and it is reasonable for Houck to believe denying visits is necessary to protect E.P.H.”
Hayden said witnesses on both sides of the case acknowledge that “Houck is a loving father and is greatly involved in his son’s life.”
He wrote that the law requires courts to “presume a parent is fit and acting in the child’s best interest when considering a motion for grandparent visitation. Grandparents can overcome this presumption by presenting evidence that the fit parent ‘is clearly mistaken in the belief that grandparent visitation is not in the child’s best interest.’”
In this case, Hayden wrote that there was a risk of “emotional harm” to the boy if visitation was granted because of “the hostility between” the Ballards and Houck.
“Houck believes contact with the Ballard family would alienate him from his son,” he wrote.
Hayden wrote that members of the Ballard family had made “negative comments” about Houck in the past, and “Sherry Ballard has participated in podcasts, local news pieces, and a cable television miniseries where she has repeatedly stated she believes Houck killed her daughter.
“Members of the Ballard family testified they had never made such comments in E.P.H.’s presence nor would they do so in the future,” Hayden wrote. “The court believes this testimony was sincere in that they would not do so on purpose but is unconvinced they would be able to keep that vow given their demonstrated hostility toward Houck.”
Ballard has said she is appealing the decision.
Rogers’ older children live with Ballard and have not seen their brother in recent years either.
“His brothers and sisters deserve to see him,” Ballard said. “It’s not right.”
As she stood in front of a billboard bearing a photograph of her daughter, Ballard said she decided to hold Saturday’s rally because “I feel like the judges are not giving me anything.”
“Grandparents do need rights for their grandchildren,” she said. “I think I deserve to see my grandchild. I’ve even told them I would take supervised visitation. I’ve been denied that.”
It’s been more than two years since she last saw the boy. When asked what she wants her grandson to know, Ballard responded, “We love him. I will not stop fighting for him, and I do want to see him. We miss him.”
The FBI is investigating Rogers’ disappearance and four unsolved Bardstown murders, including the shooting of Tommy Ballard.
Sherry Bradley said she drove six hours from Highland, Mich., because she wanted to show support for Sherry Ballard.
“How much can one person endure, and why should they have to?” she asked.
This story was originally published March 27, 2021 at 7:48 PM.
