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The Roys Report [Chicago IL]
July 29, 2025
By Jessica Morris
Warning: This article contains descriptions of sexual assault.
As victims of Michael Tait continue to snowball, two more men have come forward and say the rock star sexually assaulted them while he was still in the band DC Talk.
Since then, both men say the assaults wreaked havoc on their personal lives. As their careers spiraled down, Tait’s spiraled up.
Randall Crawford, a Christian songwriter, and his friend Jason Jones, the founding manager of the American hard-rock band Evanescence, revealed all to The Guardian in a lambasting report about their former friend Michael Tait. They have confided similar allegations to The Roys Report (TRR).
“It’s the first time this year, in 25 years since the incident, (that I’ve) said that he raped me,” Crawford told TRR.
“I was at the height of my career,” said Crawford. “I got Grammy nominated. I won a Dove, and I got signed to a major label. And I couldn’t enjoy any of that. I had to really bury it deep down. And plus, I’ve known him since 1989. He was my brother.”
Crawford first met Tait when DC Talk was filming their debut music video for “Heavenbound” in Nashville. The two quickly hit it off, and for a decade they were inseparable.
During this time, Jason Jones moved to Nashville to manage Crawford’s band. Crawford introduced Jones to Tait, and the then-18-year-old was welcomed into their group of friends. The relationship gave him unlimited opportunities in Nashville, and for the burgeoning group he was creating called Evanescence. But even then, Jones told The Guardian, it was common for Tait to randomly grab men’s genitals.
“I had this band that I was trying to take places,” Jones told The Guardian. “(Tait) had the power to open doors for us in the industry. So, I went along with whatever but didn’t know what it would cost me.”
It was also common for the friendship group to party at Tait’s house as the group smoked marijuana, drank alcohol, and used the hot tub. Unnamed sources say there was a “no clothes allowed” rule in the hot tub as Tait played with his genitals and the water jets.
As Tait’s success grew during the rise of DC Talk, so did his bravado. For a while, Crawford told TRR he tried to protect Tait from public scrutiny and cautioned him from acting out.
In 1995, Tait drove through the grounds of his alma mater Liberty University and was pulled over by campus security for speeding. Yet even then, Tait wasn’t held responsible for his behavior, and they laughed and asked for autographs.
“After they left, Michael turned to me, calm as ever, and said: ‘I can do anything and not get in trouble,’” Crawford said to The Guardian.
He also tried to keep Tait from kissing men when they were out partying. If Tait’s homosexuality became public knowledge, it would have caused an early burial for DC Talk and their conservative audience.
Despite this, Crawford told TRR that Tait often acted out for “shock value.”
“He just felt like he was invincible,” Crawford told TRR. “He’s like, ’Don’t worry about it, Crawford. I got this.’ He’s like a car salesman. I felt like I had to defend him.”
Both Crawford’s and Jones’ relationship with Tait took a turn in 1998, after Tait’s father, Nathel, died. Tait became like a “wild child,” they said, and he was “self-destructive.” His partying increased and so did the danger to his friends.
Jason Jones’ story
Jones was allegedly sexually assaulted by Tait in 1998. He told The Guardian that they were drinking alcohol at Tait’s house, after he had finished rehearsals for DC Talk’s Supernatural tour.
Feeling tired, he told The Guardian that Tait invited him to sleep in his bed. He later believed he was drugged.
He soon passed out, and when he woke up, his pants were off. Tait was performing oral sex on his genitals.
“I said no and pushed him off, but then, somehow, I passed out again,” Jones told The Guardian.
“I woke back up and he was still doing it. I said no again, then nodded out. And then I woke up a third time, aggressively shouted ‘No!’ and pushed him harder. It was then that he left me alone,” he said.
According to The Guardian, Jones later told a friend that he had a “bad experience with Tait.” The friend, who is anonymous, was contacted by The Guardian and corroborated this.
Jones also told Evanescence co-founder Ben Moody about the assault in an effort to protect him from Tait. However, Moody told The Guardian it wasn’t framed as assault.
Jones told The Guardian he is adamant he spoke to Moody about pushing Tait off his body three times.
Following Jones’ alleged assault, he experienced a noticeable dip in mental health, which was observed by friends and family. He displayed manic swings, showing depression, rage, paranoia and dissociation—symptoms that could be attributed to PTSD.
This was the breaking point in Jones relationship with Moody and Evanescence. The rock band, fronted by singer Amy Lee, would go on to win two Grammys.
Due to his split with the band, Jones says he lost the opportunity to be paid tens of millions of dollars in compensation
The Guardian reported that Jones believed he was fired from the band due to speaking up about Tait. Moody disagrees, saying he confronted Tait on the phone back then, but Tait denied the allegations
“I wanted to get ahead of (Jason) talking sh*t about us and ruining the whole thing,” Moody told The Guardian. “Back then there were rumors Michael Tait (was gay). And at that point, right after (DC Talk record) Jesus Freak, he was the biggest thing in Christian music history, and the scandal would’ve been a huge deal.”
Over the next five years, Jones became addicted to methamphetamines as he struggled to make sense of his alleged sexual assault.
He told Crawford about the incident years later. But even before this, his friend noticed his downward spiral.
“(He was) a happy guy, a real sweetheart, but all that changed after 1998,” Crawford told The Guardian.
“I could tell something had happened. He didn’t tell me about it at the time, but he has since. And I believe him, because the same thing happened to me,” he said.
Randall Crawford’s story
Crawford was allegedly sexually assaulted by Tait in 2000. He was already in a vulnerable emotional state, recovering from a breakup with a woman he met through Tait.
A few months prior, Crawford had narrowly escaped sexual assault at the hands of a Christian country musician after a late-night, song-writing session. He had shared this with Tait, and then Tait invited him over to his house for emotional support, Crawford told TRR.
“Michael said, ‘Dude, come over. I’ll cure you, buddy,’” Crawford said. “And so, I go over (to his house). He throws on some Coldplay. We’re just talking about old times, old friends. And he said, ‘Dude, let me get you to drink.’”
According to Crawford, Tait poured him a shot of Maker’s Mark. This is the same liquor he would use to allegedly drug “Steven,” a 22-year-old victim, a decade later, as TRR reported previously.
But Crawford had no reason to believe Tait had malicious intent. He accepted the drink, despite the fact he didn’t often consume alcohol. Then, he told TRR, he passed out.
“I woke up to him doing a sexual act on me,” Crawford told TRR. “(He) had my legs up in the air, and (I) was like, ‘Whoa, dude, what are you doing?’ He’s like, ‘Hey, you think the Colts are going to do anything this year?’”
Feeling “groggy and out of it,” Crawford realized he had been drugged. But Tait stopped assaulting him and acted like nothing had happened.
He wondered later if he had given Tait the idea to drug him after sharing what had happened with the country singer.
“Did I give Michael the idea?” Crawford reflected to TRR. “I don’t know, but I (told him), ‘The guy slipped me something in my drink, and then he tried to rape me.’”
While Tait acted as though nothing had happened, Crawford turned in on himself and told TRR he became a “follower.” He and Tait would fly to different locations and visit gay bars, causing him to wonder if Tait had been attracted to him for years.
“He would say stuff like, ‘You’re beautiful like a woman, and (I) wish it wasn’t a sin to be gay,’” Crawford told TRR.
“I was always attracted to women, and I never gave in to Michael. That’s probably why he felt like he had to drug me and do something that was non-consensual,” he said.
TRR spoke to two of Crawford’s friends about the incident. They were also friends with Tait, and said they were “shocked” by what Crawford told them.
Crawford stayed friends with Tait for years, contributing to his band TAIT, after DC Talk went on hiatus in 2000. He also experienced phenomenal success in Christian music, penning multiple tracks on Toby Mac’s debut solo album, “Momentum.”
But ultimately, he told TRR, he lost his love for music. His career petered out, as did his contacts with Tait. However, when Crawford was married after COVID-19, he said Tait rebuilt his connection with the family.
He told TRR Tait even joined them for Christmas dinner last year and spoke to them about his exciting plans with the Newsboys.
It was only after seeing Tait again in 2024 that he realized the gravity of what had occurred to him. He told his wife and began EMDR therapy, a therapeutic method used by practitioners in extreme cases of trauma. When stories about Tait allegedly sexually assaulting people were published in June, he felt compelled to act.
“Hearing all the other things in the report about the young woman (Nicole in Fargo) , there was no words. (It) completely . . . broke me” he told TRR.
Like many victims of sexual assault, Crawford kept up a relationship with his abuser. His wife told TRR that Tait was viewed as a family member, but since stories of his abuse have aired publicly, Crawford has been a shell of himself.
“I’ve never heard sounds come out of a human like that before,” she said. “This is one of our very best friends. We consider him family. And there’s that part where it feels like betrayal. It’s just so unbelievably painful and just devastating.”
Crawford says he wants Michael to repent and take steps to heal and pursue justice. He told TRR he chose to make this appeal publicly, rather than approach Michael privately because “I just don’t want to be around him right now.”
“The goal for us is for people to finally find their freedom out of prison,” Crawford added. “I just want to encourage anybody else that’s gone through this, just come forward. There’s healing in that. That weight will be lifted. So come forward.”