MOBILE (AL)
Lagniappe [Mobile AL]
September 20, 2023
By Kyle Hamrick
The young woman who former Mobile priest Alex Crow coerced into leaving Mobile for Europe with him this summer is no longer allowed to talk to her mother, a family representative said Wednesday.
Mobile attorney Christine Hernandez said the 30-year-old cleric and the young woman who graduated from McGill-Toolen Catholic High School in May are still in Italy, where they have lived since the end of July. Recently, Crow contacted a member of the young woman’s family and told them he will no longer allow her to speak to her mother.
“He’s targeted the mother of this child saying she’s the one that’s ruining his life, and because of her, they’re not going to be talking to her or having anything to do with her,” Hernandez said. “He won’t let her call the mother and talk to her.”
In August, Hernandez said Crow forced the young woman to rely on him for everything in Italy. She has no money, no phone, no job and, unlike Crow, is not fluent in Italian. Before the pair left Mobile, Hernandez said Crow “continued for hours on the phone to convince her” to leave with him.
“We’re aware that the young lady did not want to go,” she said.
The Most Rev. Thomas Rodi, archbishop of Mobile, announced on July 26 that Crow “abandoned his assignment” as Corpus Christi Catholic Church’s parochial vicar and he may no longer dress or work as a priest. In separate statements, Rodi called Crow’s behavior in his two-year career “unbecoming” and “scandalous,” and said he plans to remove Crow from the priesthood in the next six months. Rodi pledged that the Archdiocese is fully cooperating with the Mobile County District Attorney’s Office and the Mobile County Sheriff’s Office as they investigate whether Crow groomed the young woman and others when they were high school students.
Hernandez said the Archdiocese and McGill administrators met with parents in the final months of 2022 and the early months of 2023 to hear their concerns about Crow’s actions on a trip to Guatemala over the summer. The Rev. Bry Shields, McGill’s president, Michelle Haas, McGill’s principal, and others were present in these meetings. Crow’s interest in exorcisms and interactions with students were among the topics discussed, Hernandez said.
Corpus Christi pastor the Rev. Pat Arensberg was made to serve as Crow’s supervisor after the Guatemala trip, she said. One parent told Lagniappe Crow kept a table covered in alcohol in Corpus Christi’s rectory, and gave students easy access to the facility.
“[Arensberg] essentially was telling Crow he couldn’t have the girls and the boys in his rectory like that, and couldn’t be providing them alcohol and things like that,” Hernandez said.
Spokeswomen for the Mobile County District Attorney’s Office and MCSO did not immediately respond to requests for comment about the status of their investigations.
Email comments and news tips to kyle@lagniappemobile.com
Kyle Hamrick