Alabama priest Alex Crow was accused of marrying an 18-year-old and fleeing to Italy.
MOBILE, Ala. – A suspended Alabama priest is accused of marrying the 18-year-old woman he fled to Italy with this summer, and the Catholic church may officially dismiss him from priesthood, according to state records and an archbishop.
A marriage certificate filed Monday in Mobile County shows that Alex Crow, a 30-year-old Catholic priest in south Alabama, married the 18-year-old.
Crow left the country in late July with the teen, who is a recent graduate of McGill-Toolen High School.
He was not an employee at the school but sometimes visited theology classes there, news outlets reported. The marriage certificate indicates the woman turned 18 in June.
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Priest will likely be dismissed
Archbishop Thomas J. Rodi announced in July that he had suspended Crow and forbidden him from acting, dressing or presenting himself as a priest. Rodi later said he saw no way for Crow to return to the priesthood.
“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," read a statement issued by the Archdiocese of Mobile.
The district attorney in Mobile County earlier this month announced that it had closed an investigation into criminal wrongdoing in the pair's relationship. News outlets reported that Mobile County District Attorney Keith Blackwood said the young woman came to a meeting with an attorney and declined to answer questions.
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