North Texas pastor suspended after allowing his son, a convicted sex offender, to work at his church

A North Texas church is investigating its pastor after the community discovered that his son, who volunteered and worked at the church, is a convicted sex offender.

According to a statement released on Thursday from Heritage Baptist Church, pastor Eric Crawford is "being temporarily relieved of all ministry responsibilities" while the church's finance team conducts an internal review. Crawford and his family support the decision, the statement said.

Crawford founded Heritage Baptist Church in 2000, which is based in Haslet, north of Fort Worth.

The announcement comes days after Crawford acknowledged that he allowed his son, Caleb Crawford, to help lead music and perform maintenance work at the church after he was released from jail following a conviction for indecency with a child, sexual contact.

State records show that the victim in the case was a 12-year-old girl. The case started in 2012, he was convicted in 2016 and released from jail in 2018. It is unclear how long Caleb Crawford, who is now 31, had been volunteering and working at the church.

"In this instance involving my son, the legal process had concluded several years ago," Crawford said. "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."

Crawford said he reversed that decision after concerns were raised among parents of students at the church's affiliated school and daycare, which "created unnecessary distraction within our ministry."

Since the church's announcement, Caleb Crawford was arrested in Fort Worth on an outstanding warrant for failure to comply with sex offender registration requirements. As of Friday afternoon, he is still in custody at the Tarrant County Jail.