zzdcar
Home
/
Reviews
/
Racing
/
Former NASCAR Driver Rick Crawford Sentenced to 11 Years in Prison for Attempting to Pay for Underage Sex
Former NASCAR Driver Rick Crawford Sentenced to 11 Years in Prison for Attempting to Pay for Underage Sex-April 2024
2024-02-19 EST 22:11:12

A federal court in Florida sentenced former driver Rick Crawford, of for sex with a fictitious 12-year-old girl earlier this year, to nearly 11 years in prison this week. The minimum penalty he faced going into it was 10 years.

The United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida sentenced Crawford Monday, after he was apprehended by federal agents on Feb. 28 upon meeting an undercover investigator to pay for sex with a made-up 12-year-old girl in the back of a van. The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Florida a federal jury found Crawford guilty of attempted enticement of a minor in August, despite Crawford pleading not guilty on March 9.

Crawford, 60, faced between 10 years and life after he was found guilty, and got just over the minimum penalty on Monday: 10 years and eight months. Court documents show that Crawford was also fined $5,000 and must register as a sex offender, participate in a mental-health program for offenders, have no direct contact with children, and abide by media and computer restrictions.

The sentencing came nearly a year after Crawford first got into contact with the undercover investigator, who posted an ad online for people “looking for that dark taboo experience.” The investigator was Steven McElyea, who was working with the Seminole County Sheriff’s Office in Florida and posed as the father of a pretend 12-year-old daughter he posted sex ads about online.

McElyea said in the complaint against Crawford upon his arrest that he posted the ad on Feb. 10, and got a response from a person later identified as Crawford saying “Let’s do it” that same day. The complaint said the two talked for about two and a half weeks before meeting, and that they agreed Crawford would pay between $50 and $75 for “oral both ways and just straight sex” with the girl while the father watched. McElyea also said in the complaint that he asked if Crawford had done this before, and that Crawford said, “Paid for it. Yes.”

Crawford denied being there to meet anyone underage in an interview after he was apprehended, according to the complaint, saying his conversations with McElyea indicated the daughter was 12 years old but that he found it hard to believe. Crawford wouldn’t have gone through with it if she were 12, he said.

McElyea, however, said in the complaint that Crawford asked for photos of the fictitious daughter before meeting and that he sent photos of a coworker when she was 12. The two met in a restaurant parking lot in the afternoon, McElyea said, during what he told Crawford was his daughter’s school day.

Agents found Crawford’s cellphone after apprehending him, along with other evidence on him and in his truck, according to the Middle District of Florida Attorney’s Office from August:

On February 28, 2018, when Crawford arrived at the agreed location to have sex with the girl, he was arrested by federal agents. During a search of Crawford, agents found that he was carrying $80 and had a condom in his pants pocket. The agents also searched Crawford’s truck, finding an emergency contraceptive pill, massage oil, a phallic device, a sexual performance enhancement pill, adult pornography, a DVD player, and condoms.

The phone also had the messages and emails between Crawford and McElyea, which are detailed in the criminal complaint from February below.

Comments
Welcome to zzdcar comments! Please keep conversations courteous and on-topic. To fosterproductive and respectful conversations, you may see comments from our Community Managers.
Sign up to post
Sort by
Show More Comments
Racing
Formula One Drivers, Soccer Men, And Streamers Are Turning To Virtual Racing
Formula One Drivers, Soccer Men, And Streamers Are Turning To Virtual Racing
It’s 2020, and because we can’t have fun anymore, , and many of us have gaps in our weekend plans. However, the world of esports does indeed exist, and , en masse, to do something to entertain us and pass the time. This weekend, there is no real-world race...
Apr 2, 2026
SRO America Has Its Head In The Sand
SRO America Has Its Head In The Sand
Friday afternoon the racing series formerly known as World Challenge, SRO America, issued an incredibly tone deaf press release saying that all races this year would continue. Despite the cancellation or postponement of pretty much every major international motorsport event, it’s business as usual in the mind of the...
Apr 2, 2026
Professional NASCAR Drivers Competed In A Virtual Race And It Was Pretty Damn Epic
Professional NASCAR Drivers Competed In A Virtual Race And It Was Pretty Damn Epic
has until May due to the Coronavirus outbreak. But to fill the demand for cars repeatedly driving around an oval, the company held a virtual race that featured actual NASCAR drivers behind the wheel of . Apparently the digital event was actually quite epic. On Sunday, NASCAR held a...
Apr 2, 2026
Pikes Peak Hill Climb Pushed Back Two Months
Pikes Peak Hill Climb Pushed Back Two Months
America’s second-oldest motorsports institution, the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb announced on Thursday that it would not run on its scheduled June 28th date, and instead postpone two months to August 30th. While I applaud the organizer’s optimism that the 98th running of the race will continue on, I...
Apr 2, 2026
F1's 2020 Season Is Dissolving
F1's 2020 Season Is Dissolving
The Monaco Grand Prix is canceled. The central point of the season is gone, as and next year’s cars, too, are delayed. The 2020 Formula One season is slipping away in coronavirus. Here’s the Monaco cancellation: And here’s the official pushback of the rather extreme 2021 rule changes to...
Apr 2, 2026
This Ridiculous 850-Horsepower 1936 Chevrolet Makes A Spirited Hillclimber
This Ridiculous 850-Horsepower 1936 Chevrolet Makes A Spirited Hillclimber
The world can always use more videos from Rod Millen’s Leadfoot Festival, and that’s doubly true when the car in the video is Ray Evernham’s ridiculous 850-horsepower ‘36 Chevy called “The Ghost.” The car was built for Pikes Peak in 2018, where it ran 18th overall with a 10:11.334 time....
Apr 2, 2026
Copyright 2023-2026 - www.zzdcar.com All Rights Reserved