Police have released correspondence from a former priest who fled to Italy with a teen he’s accused of grooming.
The letters – which include a love note sent to the 18-year-old girl in question – make it clear 30-year-old Alex Crow has no intention of returning home to Alabama.
Released Monday by Mobile County cops, one is addressed to an unidentified man – who Crow wrote had been ‘entrusted with [the] letter’ by his much-younger mistress – while the other is to the woman herself.
The former Father – who has said he was exorcised as a kid – explains in the first letter why he ‘abandoned’ his duties as a priest at Corpus Christi Catholic Church, and indicates he believes he and the girl were told by Jesus to leave Mobile.
In the second, he gushes to the girl – who he allegedly met while she was still a student – about being in love, while claiming they are ‘married.’
Onlookers, meanwhile, have continued to comment on Crow’s good-looks online. As for the girl, her name was redacted from the letters, which were written before their departure.
Father Alex Crow – who once claimed he was the subject of a ‘minor exorcism’ – is on the lam with a former student at McGill-Toolen High School in Alabama
Released Monday by the cops Mobile County, the letters – which include a love note sent to the 18-year-old girl in question (not pictured) – make it clear 30-year-old Alex Crow has no intention of returning home to Alabama
The first letter, which is undated, shows the then-priest’s belief that the Christian messiah contacted him and told him to leave town with the girl – whom he allegedly met when she was a student – in July.
Addressed to an unidentified man named Joshua, it reads: ‘Dear Joshua… [Name redacted] said that you were the one who should be entrusted with this letter.
‘She said She loves you very much and that you are trustworthy. I agree with Her. What I am going to write is what She has told me to write. It will be hard for you to understand what I am doing, but do not worry. It will all make sense one day.’
Crow, who was a musician before he took his post at Corpus Christi Catholic Church, continued: Jesus has told me that He wants me to leave, therefore I am not going to return from this trip. I do this with a heavy heart.
‘It is hard to suddenly leave everything behind, but this is what He is demanding and I cannot deny Him.’
The Pasteur went on to insist that he was not abandoning his priesthood by going on the lam with the girl, whose family three weeks ago came forward to claim they located the couple in Italy, and the young woman left with Crow of her own accord.
‘Let me be very clear: I am not leaving the priesthood,’ wrote Crow, prior to being stripped of his duties to the Archdiocese of Mobile – which clergyman recently said he had already ‘abandoned’ by relocating.
‘I will never forsake my sacred duties,’ the disgraced church official continued. ‘The priesthood is the greatest gift Jesus has ever given me, and I will treasure this gift forever.
‘That said, it is His priesthood, and He can do with me as He pleases.’
In the second, he gushes to the girl – who he allegedly met while she was still a student – about being in love, while claiming they are ‘married’
Sent on Valentine’s Day of this year, the letter was sent when the girl was still a senior at McGill-Toolen Catholic High School. She was reportedly 17 at the time
During an initial investigation, cops discovered a love letter between Crow and the teen from Valentine’s Day when she was still in high school
‘Let His Will be done.’
Crow ended the letter by claiming Christ also told the girl to ‘come with [him].’
‘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,’ the reverend wrote.
‘We will always be thinking and praying for all of you, especially our families and friends. Please pray for us, too. We need it. In Christ, Rev. Alexander Crow.’
Cops from Mobile County Sheriff’s Office did not specify when exactly the correspondence was sent, but it likely came shortly before the Archdiocese of Mobile reported the priest to the DA, citing ‘behavior totally unbecoming of a priest.’
The second letter, which was sent on Valentine’s Day this year, was sent when the girl was still a senior at McGill-Toolen Catholic High School. She was reportedly 17 at the time.
‘Dear [redacted]’, it begins. ‘As I write this I’m still experiencing eye dilation, so I apologize if this is hard to read. I can barely read what I’m writing as I do this. Ha!
‘First things first: I love you, and I thank Jesus for you every day. You have made my life both astronomically more complicated and incredibly better at the same time. You are his gift to me.’
Crow went on to write about his relationship with the teen before they became romantically involved – referring to himself as a ‘father’ tasked with protecting her.
At one point, he writes: ‘You are mine – no one else’s, and I will always be a father to you until I die.’
An ensuing passage suggests that the pair at some point married.
Police are searching for a now defrocked ‘heartthrob priest’ who allegedly fled to Italy with an 18-year-old woman who cops say he groomed as a high school student
Crow was a priest at the Corpus Christi Catholic Church (pictured) in Mobile, Alabama
The Archdiocese of Mobile defrocked Crow (pictured in October 2020) in July after they say he abandoned his post at the Corpus Christi Catholic Church
It reads: ‘Now, we are in love and we are married! I’ve never been in love before (and I’ve never been married, obviously!), and I’ve never felt any of the feelings I have for you for anyone ever in my entire life.
‘I promise that I will love you the absolute best I can, every single day.’
The loved up statement would contradict statements by the officer who unveiled the note, Mobile County Sheriff Paul Burch, just three days ago, when he claimed Crow ‘groomed another couple of young girls’ in addition to the 18-year-old.
Speaking on Fox Nation’s ‘Crime Stories with Nancy Grace,’ Burch said Crow had a previous association with a female who was ‘best friends’ with the woman who left with him, and that felony warrants could be filed against him as early as ‘this week.’
The letter, released by Burch that same day, continued: ‘I’m sorry I cannot give you a “normal” Valentines Day this year. I wanted to do nothing more than buy you flowers but for fear of scandal I couldn’t.
‘I almost stole some from the Mary statue but there were too many people around,’ he admits.
It concludes with a passage that makes it clear the couple had already been planning their overseas excursion at that point.
‘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 Days, but for now: Happy Valentines Day.’
‘You are the prettiest girl who has ever lived, and I will always tell you that. You are perfect, and precious and, besides Jesus, the most wonderful thing I’ve ever seen or held in my two hands.
‘I will always love you, [redacted].’
The update in the case comes almost a month after the Archdiocese of Mobile defrocked Crow, a former rock musician, after they say he abandoned his post at the Mobile congregation.
Crow himself is a graduate of McGill-Toolen and later attended a seminary named St. Joseph before receiving his Master of Divinity degree in Indiana.
The defrocked clergy member also attended Sant’ Anselmo in Rome, Italy, where he received a Bachelor of Sacred Theology and studied demons and exorcisms deeply.
In lectures posted online, Crow discussed his fascination in detail with possession and other supernatural encounters.
‘I grew up in a weird home, both familially, but also a lot of weird stuff happening in the house,’ he said during a podcast appearance in July 2022.
‘You’d hear things moving around or banging in different rooms. I’d see things from time to time as a kid, always assuming I was kind of, hyper, or just looking too much into stuff,’ Crow said at the time.
The defrocked clergy member also attended Sant’ Anselmo in Rome, Italy where he received a Bachelor of Sacred Theology and studied demons and exorcisms deeply
Before joining the church, Crow (pictured) fronted a band called ‘Alex Crow & The Altar Boys,’ which played around the Mobile, Alabama area
The former member of the church also described a time when he experienced health issues like chest pains and migraines. The cause, he said, could not be determined.
Crow claimed he underwent a ‘minor exorcism’ and that he had a ‘negative reaction’ initially but that he ‘felt immediately better when it was over.’
The young woman’s parents were slated to hold a press conference on Thursday but canceled the event out of fear for their daughter’s safety.
‘They’re afraid something is going to happen to their daughter,’ attorney Christine Hernandez told NBC 15 News.
‘She is with someone who the sheriff’s office considers a predator,’ she said.
After the couple was discovered in Italy, the young woman reportedly told a family member that ‘she went with him on her own free will.’
She also allegedly insisted there was no romantic relationship between them and that they were staying in separate bedrooms.
Cops investigation is still ongoing. DailyMail.com has reached out to the Mobile County Sheriff’s Office for comment.
***
Read more at DailyMail.co.uk