Plantation photographer faces judge after post-cruise arrest on child sex abuse video charges

MIAMI — A well-known Plantation photographer faced a Miami federal judge on Thursday, a little less than a week after authorities said they found child sexual abuse videos on his phone after he got off a cruise ship.

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Steve Lawson, 45, was taken into custody soon after disembarking the Norwegian Getaway at PortMiami on Friday after it arrived from the Bahamas. His arrest came after customs officers searched his phone, according to court documents.

Investigators said the father of seven had more than a dozen videos of young girls being raped and sexually abused, including an hour-long video that showed more than 100 victims.

A federal criminal complaint states that Lawson, who photographs weddings and families, admitted to buying the videos using cryptocurrency while the ship was docked in the Bahamas and it states he claimed he was “enticed to do so after he observed female minors in bikinis on the cruise.”

The Daily Mail wrote an article about Lawson and his family of 9 living in a converted school bus traveling across the U.S. in 2019.

That same year, Lawson was seen on Local 10 News after sewage flooded his family’s Plantation home.

In court on Thursday, prosecutors argued that Lawson is a danger to the community and has an addiction.

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The federal judge ordered he be held on a $900,000 bond. If he posts his bond, he’ll be prohibited from using any electronics or the internet and can’t work as a photographer.

“We recognize the serious nature of the charges and are committed to working diligently through the legal process to achieve a fair and just resolution of this case,” Lawson’s attorney, Susan Lawson ― no relation ― told Local 10 News in a statement on Thursday.

But Local 10 News has learned that Steve Lawson was not the only person ― or Broward resident, for that matter ― arrested after getting off the Norwegian Getaway that day.

A separate criminal complaint states that customs officers also looked at a phone belonging to Michael William Simmons, 40, of Tamarac, after he disembarked the cruise.

Investigators said he took videos of his daughters’ friends, aged 9 to 11, showering while stationed in Anchorage, Alaska for the Air Force in 2014 and said he admitted to doing so “for his sexual gratification.”

They said he also admitted to buying child sexual abuse videos using an encrypted system designed to conceal a user’s IP address.

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It’s unclear whether the two know one another.