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Scott Rogers’ Double Life

The sick, secret world of a cheerful TV host.
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All of Baton Rouge is talking about the murder of Scott Rogers, a local TV host who has been a figure on the scene for over a decade. Rogers was found shot to death in his bed this week. His presumed murder, a man named Matthew Hodgkinson, turned the gun on himself and fired. He is now in critical condition in a local hospital, on life support.

Rogers was a slight, cheerful Brit who produced his own weekly TV series focusing on community life. He would interview people from local charities about their work — nothing controversial. He specialized in being bland and beloved, emceeing at fundraisers and similar events. It seems that nobody had a bad word to say about him. When news of his death got out, it was a shock. His alleged killer, Hodgkinson, was his business partner as well as his son-in-law.

Now a very different story is emerging. From the Baton Rouge Advocate:

 Facing harsh criticism amid allegations that he sexually abused children in England, Scott Rogers fled to Texas in the mid-1990s before settling down in Baton Rouge, building from scratch a reputation as an ebullient local television host known for his extensive work promoting nonprofit organizations and civic agencies.

Until Wednesday, when the authorities said Rogers was fatally shot in what appears to be a murder-attempted suicide at his St. Gabriel home, the local celebrity’s history in England was unknown to even some of his closest professional associates. Recently, though, his past caught up with him, leading to a federal investigation into whether Rogers submitted fraudulent naturalization and adoption paperwork, said Seth Dornier, Rogers’ attorney.

On the same day a grand jury heard testimony related to the federal investigation, Rogers, 52, suffered a fatal gunshot wound to the head, Iberville Parish Sheriff Brett Stassi said. Matthew Hodgkinson, Rogers’ son-in-law through what Stassi has described as a sham marriage to Rogers’ daughter, also suffered a gunshot wound inside that Daisy Avenue home that day. Sheriff’s Office reports indicate Hodgkinson shot Rogers then turned the gun on himself.

There are little children involved:

Another man who lived in the St. Gabriel home with Rogers and Hodgkinson appeared on a public radio program Thursday morning, telling host Jim Engster that both he and Hodgkinson were sexually abused by Rogers as teenagers in England. The men moved to America with him, remaining entangled with Rogers for more than 20 years.

Less than two weeks ago, federal authorities took custody of two children living in Rogers’ home. One was Rogers’ 10-year-old adopted son, and the other was a 2-year-old boy Rogers was in the process of adopting, said Dornier, the attorney Rogers hired Monday to represent him in the pending child study case.

Bryan Cox, a spokesman for the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement based in New Orleans, said the Homeland Security Investigations office in Baton Rouge assisted the Louisiana Department of Children and Family Services with removing two boys from the home pursuant to a state court order.

 Read the whole thing.  It’s going to get even more twisted, sounds like. We haven’t yet heard from the daughter.

I don’t suppose there’s much to say at this point, absent more information, except that it never ceases to amaze me how diabolically devious people can be. Rogers was clearly a sociopath. I’ve never seen his program, but I found a clip on YouTube of an interview he did on his show a few years ago, and he looks like he wouldn’t hurt a fly. You just never know about people, do you? Rogers even helped start a church. It was all the perfect cover. His charity work was a massive sleight of hand. But here’s what I can’t figure out: if you have this kind of background, and are engaged in that high-stakes level of deception, why do you make yourself a local media celebrity? Maybe Rogers got a thrill from the lying. Or maybe he figured it was easiest to hide in plain sight.

UPDATE: Talking about hiding in plain sight! A reader sends this commendation of Rogers by the Louisiana legislature, listing his seemingly countless civic deeds. The accused child molester even wrote children’s books.

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