Houck transferred for life-sentence prison assessment in Crystal Rogers case
The man found guilty on charges related to the disappearance and presumed death of Bardstown mother Crystal Rogers will soon learn where he will serve out his life sentence.
Brooks Houck, 43, who was found guilty in July of murder—principal or accomplice—and evidence tampering, was moved to the Kentucky Department of Corrections Assessment and Classification Center at the Roederer Correctional Complex in La Grange on Monday.
Prosecutors believe Houck, who was Rogers’ ex-boyfriend, was motivated by fear he would lose custody of the couple’s then 2-year-old son. Rogers, a 35-year-old mother of five, was reported missing by her mother, Sherry Ballard, in early July 2015. No trace of her has been found, and police believe she was murdered.
The case has generated national media attention in the years since as authorities have searched for her remains. It took a mysterious turn months after her disappearance when Rogers’ father, Tommy Ballard, died in what police have called a “hunting incident.” Family members believe Ballard was close to identifying his daughter’s killers, and his death still remains an open police investigation years later.
A Nelson Circuit Judge in September sentenced Houck to life in prison with the possibility of parole after 20 years for his role in the disappearance of 35-year-old Rogers. Codefendant Joseph Lawson, 34, was sentenced to 25 years on charges of conspiracy to commit murder and evidence tampering, with the possibility of parole after a little more than 21 years.
Steven Lawson, 51, who is Joseph Lawson’s father, was also convicted of conspiracy to commit murder and evidence tampering in a separate trial. He was sentenced in August to 17 years in prison.
Houck is appealing his conviction to the Kentucky Supreme Court.
Except for death-row convicts, all new male inmates in Kentucky are transferred to Roederer to undergo an assessment for security risk, needs and behavior. It is typically the last step in the state prison system before an inmate is assigned to one of the 14 adult prisons across the commonwealth.
This is the second time Houck has been moved to Oldham County since his arrest in 2023, eight years after he was named the sole suspect in Rogers’ disappearance. He was initially held in Hardin County on a $10 million bond before being transferred to the Oldham County Detention Center to await trial.
After the conviction, he was transferred to the Big Sandy Regional Detention Center in Eastern Kentucky, where he has remained since.
