A Vandalia man charged with three counts of predatory criminal sexual assault of a victim under the age of 13 made an appearance in Fayette County Court on Tuesday. 27-year old Matthew Crawford was in court for a hearing in which a defense motion to retain an expert witness was argued. Public defender Ed Potter explained to the court that he was seeking approval of an expert witness and that he realized the cost of said expert witness is expensive explaining her rate as $475 an hour. Fayette County State’s Attorney Joshua Morrison objected to the argument by Potter for the expert witness due to the cost. Judge Don Scheafor granted the motion with the stipulation that the expert witness conduct an interview only of the defendant with the cost not to exceed $3500. Judge Scheafor requested that the defense try to contact the expert witness fairly quickly. The matter is now set for a status hearing on October 4 at 11am. Crawford remains in custody of the Fayette County Jail on $100,000 bond.