An Alabama priest fled to Italy with a teen girl. Then the sheriff released his love letter.
A Mobile, Alabama priest who made national news when he absconded to Europe with an 18-year-old recent high school graduate says he was following instructions from Jesus.
The claim was made in a letter from defrocked priest Alex Crow, 30, recently released by the Mobile County Sheriff’s Office.
The teenager’s parents later found the pair in an apartment in Italy. The teenager refused to return home and said she was not there against her will.
Although defrocked last month for abandoning his duties to the Archdiocese of Mobile and disappearing with the McGill-Toolen High School graduate, Crow said he has not left the priesthood and is doing Jesus’ will.
“Jesus told me that He wants me to leave, therefore I am not going to return from this trip,” wrote Crow in the letter. “[The teenager] has been told to come with me. We know how this looks, but we are doing what we are told. Do not worry about defending us. This is hard for her too, but she knows she will always be safe if she does Jesus’ will.”
Crow is also a McGill-Toolen alum. He graduated in 2011 and attended Spring Hill College the following year, but dropped out to form a band, according to AL.com.
A Valentine’s Day letter Crow sent the teenager when she was still a 17-year-old high school student claimed he was her husband and alluded to their plans to live in Italy.
“Now, we are in love and we are married! I’ve never been in love before (and I’ve never been married, obviously,” Crow said in the letter. “I know you want to make out so I’ll bring this to a close. When we are together … with our family in Italy, we will have so many wonderful and normal Valentines [sic] Days.”
Crow’s actions are still under investigation. According to the sheriff’s office, he could face several charges, including the Class C felony of a school employee engaging in a sexual act with a student under the age of 19 years; the Class A misdemeanor of soliciting a student to perform a sex act; and the Class A misdemeanor of a school employee distributing or soliciting obscene material to or from a student.
Alabama law says student consent is not a defense to the charges.
This story was originally published August 22, 2023 at 9:28 AM.
