Another victim files sexual abuse complaint against Gainesville church leader
Another former member of the Christian Coalition Family Church in Gainesville has accused its founder of sexual assault, Alachua County court records show.
Lorenzo Lee Crawford, 55, who refers to himself as the "Apostle," has been in the Alachua County jail since his arrest on May 23, 2023, following a SWAT raid on his church's compound, located at 7501 SW 75th St. Crawford was initially charged with 11 counts of sexual battery involving three women and one count of aggravated battery. He was charged with an additional count of felony battery in a separate court filing earlier this month. A child abuse charge against Crawford was dropped in October, court records show.
In the latest complaint, signed April 4, Crawford is charged with three counts of sexual assault and is accused of "maintaining control over the victim by keeping her in a state of fear of God's punishment, sleep deprivation, and verbal manipulation."
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According to the complaint, the victim, a member of the church for about 10 years, told Crawford that she and her husband had been having relationship problems. He recommended marriage counseling with him, during which time she told him that she had been sexually abused in the past.
As reported by other victims, the woman told law enforcement that Crawford would tell church members that bad things would happen to them if they were "rebellious" or "disobedient." He would also call out or embarrass "rebellious" church members in front of the congregation.
The victim recalled telling Crawford about a series of vehicle crashes over a three-year period, including one where the airbag deployed and she was left with a scar. She said Crawford told her the airbags deployed because she was being "disobedient" and because "God wanted her to know how it felt to be in a casket."
The victim said she was first assaulted by Crawford in June 2019, when the church was still located on Archer Road. She said Crawford asked her to drive him to the store, at which point he told her to turn into an alley near Southwest 41st Boulevard. He then touched her "private area" over her clothes.
Crawford told the victim that having sex with him would help her with her relationship with her husband and help her heal from the sexual trauma she experienced as a child. Believing what she was told, the two had sex, the complaint said.
According to the sworn complaint, after the church moved to Southwest 75th Street, the two began to have sex more regularly. The victim said they last had sex in April 2023, about a month before Crawford's arrest.
She told law enforcement that she was not aware that "other women were experiencing the kind of abuse as she did," and that Crawford was doing this to get "the ho out of church." She told law enforcement that she "thought it was okay" but realized later Crawford was preying on the members of the church.
The victim said church members after Crawford's arrest were told that he was "getting the wrong end of the stick," and that women who wanted to have sex with him instigated the situation. The complaint says Crawford "manipulated the remaining members of the church to apologize to him for this."
This article originally appeared on The Gainesville Sun: Christian Coalition Family Church in Gainesville sex assault charges
