By NEAL WAGNER / Managing Editor

COLUMBIANA – A 26-year-old Houston man has been released from the Shelby County Jail on a $30,000 bond and has asked a Shelby County Circuit Court judge to allow him to travel back to Texas after he was arrested by Alabaster police and charged with sexually abusing a victim younger than 12.

Police arrested Donald Lee Lamp, who lists an address on Stonehaven Drive in Houston, on Aug. 28 and charged him with one felony count of sexual abuse of a child younger than 12.

The charge was tied to a June 27 incident, during which Lamp allegedly asked the victim to “pull and squeeze on a hangy thing in his pants,” according to his arrest warrant.

Sexual abuse of a child younger than 12 is a Class B felony, meaning Lamp could face up to 20 years in prison if he is convicted of the crime.

Lamp was released from the Shelby County Jail the same day he was arrested after posting the $30,000 bond, and a condition of his bond requires him to remain in Alabama.

On Aug. 29, Lamp’s attorney filed a request to allow Lamp to travel back to Texas while awaiting the conclusion of his case, writing Lamp “is disabled and has the need during the pendency of this case to travel home for health, family and therapy needs in Texas,” and claimed Lamp “is not a flight risk.”

As of Aug. 30, Circuit Court Judge Daniel Crowson had not ruled on the request, and Lamp is scheduled to appear in court on Sept. 20 for a preliminary hearing.