Haslet’s Heritage Baptist Church announced Pastor Eric Crawford would be “temporarily relieved” of ministry duties three days after his son was fired due to backlash about his sex offender status, according to a statement released Thursday.
The church’s finance team is conducting an internal review of the relevant matters, the statement said.
“This decision was made collaboratively and voluntarily in order to ensure transparency, preserve the integrity of the review process and avoid unnecessary distraction from the ongoing work of the church,” the statement said.
Eric Crawford is the church’s founding pastor, which was organized in March 2001, according to the church’s website.
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During this time, he will not be allowed to participate in preaching, teaching, administrative oversight or leadership functions within the church and school, according to the statement.
His son, Caleb Crawford, 31, was terminated Monday after parents discovered he was a registered sex offender. He served two years in prison, starting in 2016, on an indecency with a child by contact conviction, according to Texas Department of Public Safety records.
Online records show he was arrested and booked into the Tarrant County jail Friday for failure to comply with sex offender registration requirements.
Parents and previous members of the Tarrant County church called for a change in church leadership and created a petition on Change.org urging the pastor to step down.
Katie Thompson, the creator of the petition, said she is hoping she can create enough awareness to keep the children safe.
“This is a new situation, but it isn’t the only time things have been covered up. I’m just hoping I can make it stop happening,” she said.
Thompson attended the church growing up and had interactions with pastor Crawford and his wife.
“I was shocked to see the Crawford name in the news, but what really bothered me was him labeling the incident as a ‘distraction,’ ” she said. “Children’s safety is important, more important than a distraction to the ministry.”
Dani Jo Gunderson’s children have attended Heritage Christian Academy in Haslet, which is affiliated with the church, for almost four years.
She has since pulled her three children from the academy and enrolled them in public school.
“The lack of integrity, transparency and honesty is the issue. It’s frightening,” she said. ”He doesn’t deserve to hide behind God.“
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