HASLET, TX – The pastor of Heritage Baptist Church has agreed to temporarily step down after it was recently revealed that his son, who is a registered sex offender, was working at the church and school.
Pastor Eric Crawford and church officials mutually agreed that it would be best for him to step away from preaching and teaching until church officials conducted an internal review of Pastor Crawford’s decision to hire his son, Caleb Crawford, as an independent contractor.
Caleb Crawford was charged and convicted of indecency with a child involving sexual conduct back in 2016. The child was 12 years old at the time. Caleb Crawford was in his 20s.
After serving time in prison for his crime, Caleb was required to register as a sex offender for life. He is currently listed as a moderate risk level, which means Caleb is at moderate risk of reoffending.
One family of Heritage Baptist Church’s school, Heritage Christian Academy, learned of Caleb Crawford’s offenses online. They spread the word to other parents, which led to moms and dads removing their kids from the school.
“He is putting them all in harm’s way, or at least potential,” Ryan Gunderson and Dani Jo Gunderson said. “If someone would have told us about this four years ago, when we were looking to enroll, we would have never put our kids there.”
Pastor Eric Crawford shared his reasoning for employing his son as an independent contractor, despite Caleb being registered as a sex offender.
“My intent was to allow his gifts to serve the ministry while ensuring that he held no role of responsibility or authority over minors entrusted to our care,” Pastor Crawford said. He ended the contractual agreement between his son and the church after backlash came from parents and congregants. Still, church officials took further action to ensure transparency and integrity.
“The Finance Team has been tasked with conducting a comprehensive and objective internal examination of the relevant matters,” Heritage Baptist Church officials said in a statement on Thursday (Feb. 19). “During this period, Pastor Crawford will not participate in preaching, teaching, administrative oversight, or any leadership functions within the church, school, or related ministries.”
Caleb Crawford was arrested by the Fort Worth Police Department on Thursday for failing to comply with sex offender registration requirements. Heritage Baptist Church requests patience and input from those who have information related to the situation.