A local pastor and executive director of Youth Empowerment Zone was arrested Thursday afternoon on suspicion of attacking a 25-year-old woman who recently gave birth to his child, according to jail records and sources close to the investigation.

Investigators believe Lorenzo Lawson, 64, attacked the woman at about 10:30 p.m. Tuesday outside of her home just north of Columbia, according to information about the incident provided by the Boone County Sheriff’s Department. The address of the assault is the residence of the 25-year-old woman who gave birth to Lawson’s son in June, multiple sources said. The woman previously received services from the Youth Empowerment Zone, a youth and young adult service organization, and was a member of the Chosen Generation Ministries where Lawson was a pastor, according to former members of the church.

Deputies found the woman with blood on her lips and in her mouth, bruising on her forehead and right cheek and what was later discovered at the hospital to be a broken jaw, said Boone County Sheriff's Detective Tom O'Sullivan. She told detectives Lawson approached her and a friend as they were walking outside and attacked her, O'Sullivan said. The woman's companion corroborated her version of events, he said.

Lawson "wasn't there when we got out there, so it took us a couple days to catch up with him," O'Sullivan said about the arrest. Lawson was arrested at about 6 p.m. Thursday and bonded out of the Boone County Jail.

Lawson was arrested on suspicion of second-degree domestic assault, a class D felony carrying a potential fine of up to $10,000 and seven years in jail. Second-degree domestic assault happens when someone “knowingly causes physical injury” by choking or strangulation, or recklessly causes serious physical injury.

Lawson could not be reached for comment Friday. An individual at Lawson's home refused to answer the door, and a "closed" sign hung in the window of the locked Youth Empowerment Zone building.

Some involved with the church and Youth Empowerment Zone were aware Lawson was having or had an affair with a young woman who was receiving YEZ services.

Lawson and the woman are currently going through a custody battle over their child, who was born out of an affair that began in mid-2016 and ended sometime around the beginning of 2017, according to former members of Lawson’s church who wrote a letter to the Tribune. A record of a custody case involving Lawson appeared in online court filings Thursday; information contained in filings corroborated some details other sources shared with the Tribune.

Court records indicated the woman alleged Lawson had a history of abusive behavior; she also alleged the affair happened at the YEZ building, where she went to do laundry. Lawson denied the allegations. Youth Empowerment Zone co-signed on the lease for the woman's apartment, where the woman claimed Lawson quickly moved some of his belongings in expectation of a continuing romantic relationship, the court filings stated.

An officer reviewing the case noted in a report that the relationship between the youth director and the young woman might have been "inappropriate." The woman stated she felt she was "taken advantage of" by Lawson when she was in a vulnerable state, according to the records.

In an interview Thursday, former YEZ board president Paul Prevo said he and several other board members resigned from the board in the past few months. Prevo acknowledged the affair and that it caused concerns among members, but also pointed to poor management and financial woes as causes for the board exodus.

“I felt like they were not entirely focused on what they want their mission to be, and I didn’t feel I could” be part “of it,” Prevo said. “The reality is, there were more than a couple of us who left because of some of the concerns.”

Those in charge of YEZ did “not listen to sound reasoning” when board members voiced their concerns, Prevo said. Employees tried to make financial balance sheets look better than they really were when the program was in financial trouble, he said.

The organization receives some government funding, including from the county's Children's Services fund. Kelly Wallis, Boone County Community Services director, said county officials have had some concerns and questions about the not-for-profit's finances.

YEZ was approved for $124,515 in funding from the county's Children's Services fund in 2016, but only submitted invoices to the county for nearly $42,000 worth of reimbursements, Wallis said. This year, YEZ was approved for nearly $110,000 and the county has made about $55,000 in payments.

Wallis said the county's Community Services Department, which oversees the Children's Services funding, found reports YEZ submitted to be confusing and it wasn't clear how many programs and services were actually being provided, Wallis said.

"It's an organization that we’ve been keeping our eye on but we weren’t able to uncover any specific … financial mismanagement," Wallis said. "But it's definitely an organization we were continuing to look at."

Representatives with YEZ did not respond to messages seeking comment Thursday and Friday morning. According to the YEZ website, the organization is looking to hire a part-time “fiscal manager” in charge of overseeing accounting, budgets, legal compliance, annual audit preparations and financial planning.

ccampbell@columbiatribune.com

573-815-1718

Reporter Brittany Ruess contributed to this story.