A registered sex offender living in Fernley who had previously been arrested twice in the past two years was arrested Aug. 21 on a charge of lewdness with a child.
Johnny Lee Lawson, 71, was booked into the Lyon County Jail on charges of lewdness with a 14- or 15-year-old child and destroying or concealing evidence. His bail was set at $102,500.
According to the Lyon County Sheriff’s Office, Lawson was arrested after he sent inappropriate messages and photos to a 14-year-old. LCSO said additional information was being withheld to protect the victim.
Under Nevada statutes, lewdness with a child 14 or 15 years old is a Category B felony, and a conviction carries a mandatory prison sentence of one to 10 years and a fine of up to $10,000.
Lawson, a Tier III registered sex offender, was arrested twice in the past two years — on Feb. 6, 2025, and July 30, 2026 — on charges of violating sex offender registration requirements.
In his social media Message of the Week posted Aug. 21, Lyon County Sheriff Brad Pope said LCSO had identified a loophole that can prevent prosecution of sex offenders who do not register on time.
As an example, Pope said if a Tier III offender fails to register by the required date and is later arrested for the violation, the offender is still required to complete the overdue verification because the offender must provide accurate information about where they live, work and can be located.
“Once that late verification is submitted and processed by the State Registry, the offender is returned to a compliant status. If the State’s official record does not preserve the period when the offender was actually out of compliance, it becomes extremely difficult to later prosecute the missed-verification case,” Pope wrote.
Pope said Lyon County prosecutors require a Certificate of Record from the Nevada Sex Offender Registry confirming the offender was out of compliance during the relevant period before they will prosecute the charge.
Pope said that means deputies can identify a violation, establish probable cause and make an arrest, but getting the offender back into compliance can leave the official state record without the documentation needed to prosecute the violation.
Pope wrote that LCSO is proposing a standardized process allowing local law enforcement to promptly notify the State Registry when an offender misses a required verification, along with preservation of that historical noncompliance in the offender’s official registration record.
In addition, he said Nevada currently imposes geographic restrictions on some offenders while they are on probation, parole or lifetime supervision, including restrictions involving locations primarily used by children.
“We believe it is worth examining whether narrowly tailored protections should remain available in appropriate cases after correctional supervision ends when the individual remains subject to sex offender registration requirements,” Pope wrote. “Our staff has developed a formal legislative concept proposal addressing these issues, supported by Nevada law, information obtained directly from the Nevada Sex Offender Registry, relevant court decisions, and examples from other states. We intend to provide that proposal to our legislative representatives for consideration.”
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