Defrocked priest marries 18-year-old he 'groomed' before pair ran away together
A priest who practiced exorcism theory has now married the 18-year-old high school student he ran away with.
The defrocked Alabama priest, Alex Crow, 30, fled to Italy with a teenage girl before he faced a Vatican vote to oust him from the church. According to a marriage certificate filed in Mobile County, Alabama, on Monday the man is now married to the 2023 high-school graduate. He married the young woman who was a 2023 high school graduate, according to a marriage certificate filed in Mobile County Monday. His now-wife turned 18 only a few months ago back in June.
The teenager attended McGill-Toolen Catholic High, where reportedly Crow occasionally visited the high school theology classes on a volunteering basis. People first caught wind of the pair’s affair after the teenage girl received a Valentine’s Day letter from Crow. The girl was still at high school at this point.
Read More: Defrocked priest 'flees to Italy with 18-year-old teen he's accused of grooming'
The priest wrote the girl a Valentine's Day letter while she was still at school (Mobile County Sheriff's Office)This Summer, Mobile County Sheriff Paul Burch said “There was some grooming that’s gone on” between Crow, ordained in 2021, and the young girl, who has over an eight-year age gap. However, the Mobile district attorney said this month that any criminal investigation had been closed down after District Attorney Keith Blackwood said the young woman declined to answer any prosecutors' questions.
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Crow took the girl to Europe this summer before returning to the States this month according to . After it had been suggested that the Vatican moved to exclude Crow from the priesthood, Archbishop Thomas J. Rodi said that the runaway priest likely gave his last sermon this week.
The 30-year-old has now married the teenage girl (Archdiocese of Mobile)The mobile county archbishop added: “The recent news of Crow’s civil marriage only confirms the Archbishop’s judgment. Archbishop Rodi anticipates that the Vatican will eventually laicize Alex Crow. He has been informed by the archbishop that he may no longer exercise ministry as a priest, nor to tell people he is a priest, nor to dress as a priest.” Rodi had previously criticised Crow stating that his actions were “totally unbecoming of a priest” after it emerged the church leader engaged in the theological study of demons and exorcism, abandoning the traditional spiritual path.
In August, a lawyer for her family claimed that relatives travelled to Italy in an attempt to find the girl but Crow refused to cooperate and instead called police. The lawyer, Christine Hernandez, also said that he has "limited" the girl's communications to the outside world.
She told NBC15: "There were prior reports from parents that said, there's some inappropriate behaviour going on. When you don't stay with the group and you lag behind with one particular student, everyone knows that you're staying behind at the cabin with this one particular student. Why? And when it's reported, why was nothing done?"
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