Crime Stories with Nancy Grace - 'HEARTTHROB PRIEST' Defrocked After Fleeing to Italy w/ Teen Girl he 'GROOMED'

Episode Date: January 19, 2024

Former priest Alex Crow, 30, and an 18-year-old girl fled to Italy where they are reportedly staying in an Airbnb.  The girl's parents pleaded with her to return, but the girl insists she is fine. Alabama police say they are probing allegations that Crow may have groomed the teen, while she was still in high school.  A love letter from Crow to the teen on Valentine’s Day of this year was found. Sheriff Burch said more female students may be involved.  Now the pair have returned to the US and have married according to a marriage license. Crow is no longer a member of the clergy. His privileges of the priesthood have been revoked.   Joining Nancy Grace Today:  Greg Ahlgren  – International Attorney-at-Law at the US-MX Law Group, Ltd. & DRT Alliance/Diaz Reus International Law Firm Dr. John Delatorre –  Licensed Psychologist and Mediator (specializing in forensic psychology); Psychological Consultant to Project Absentis: a nonprofit organization that searches for missing persons; X, IG, and TikTok – @drjohndelatorre Sheriff Paul Burch - Mobile Alabama Sheriff; Facebook: Team Sheriff, IG: teamsheriff Irv Brandt – Senior Inspector, US Marshals Service International Investigations Branch; Chief Inspector, DOJ Office of International Affairs, US Embassy Kingston, Jamaica; Author: “SOLO SHOT: CURSE OF THE BLUE STONE” – AVAILABLE ON AMAZON IN JANUARY; ALSO “FLYING SOLO: Top of the World;” Twitter: @JackSoloAuthor Rev. Dr. Bob Larson– Founder of Spiritual Freedom Churches International, Author: Book of Religions, Cults and New Age Spirituality;” Twitter: BLarsonexorcist, Facebook: BobLarsonTheRealExorcist  Anna Sonoda – Child Grooming Expert, Licensed Clinical Social Worker, and Author: “Duck Duck Groom: Understanding How a Child Becomes a Target” Kyle Hamrick - Reporter for Lagniappe News in Mobile, Alabama; Twitter @LagniappeMobile, Facebook @LagniappeMobile   See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an iHeart Podcast. Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. A 30-year-old Catholic priest counsels a teen girl and he ends up fleeing to Italy with the girl to marry her against her parents' wishes. In the last hours, even though cops haven't been able to stop him, the Pope weighs in. I'm Nancy Grace. This is Crime Stories. Thanks for being with us here at Crime Stories and on Sirius XM 111. As you will recall, Alex Crowe, the 30-year-old priest, fled the country last summer for Italy with a teen girl. When the pair's romance was revealed,

cops traveled all the way from Mobile, Alabama to Italy to try to bring the girl home. Didn't work. But in the last hours, Pope Francis at the Vatican has stripped the 30-year-old priest of his priestly duties. Can the Pope convince him he's wrong? As you will recall, the priest met his teen, now wife, when she was in high school at McGill Tulin High in Mobile, Alabama, where he frequently visited to give guest lectures to the students. Now, how did that turn into Valentine's love letters? And how did that turn into basically a kidnap of a teen girl taking her across the ocean to Italy? Well, this is how it all went down. Described as a so-called heart throb.

What does that mean? A heart throb. Now, I've heard that phrase in the past as it has referred to movie stars and matinee idols, but I've never heard it applied to a priest. I don't think of a priest as a heartthrob. Now, I'm just a peace-loving Methodist, but I look at our preachers, our lady preachers, our male preachers, as kind of like a spiritual father or mother or sister or brother. I don't really think of them as a heartthrob. Now, that's a whole psychopathy in itself.

But let's just get down to this case, and let's start with our friends at WPMI. Listen. Crow's short stint with the Catholic Church has gone from interesting to possibly criminal. According to the district attorney's office, the priest and a recent female graduate of Mobile's McGill-Tulin High School took a trip together outside of the country. In a bombshell statement, Archbishop Rohde left no one guessing that he has lost faith in his young servant.

Father Alex Crowe abandoned his assignment in the archdiocese, says Rohde. His behavior is totally unbecoming of a priest. Unbecoming. I may have another word for it, but I've got to find out more facts. Joining me in all-star panel, but first I want to go to Kyle Hamrick, a reporter for the Laniat News Mobile, Alabama. Kyle, thank you for being with us. Now, listen, I know the girl has just turned 18, but from what I can understand, his so-called grooming of her started when she was much younger. Just where is he right now? And is the girl with him? From what I understand, from what sources have told me, Crow and the young woman who recently graduated from high school are in Italy.

Oh, dear Lord in heaven. Not exactly sure where, but that is where they are now. And sources have also told me that they think this relationship might have started before she graduated high school. I don't like it. I don't like it one bit. As a matter of fact, take a listen now to our friends at Fox 10. Investigators found a love letter. The priest wrote the teen on Valentine's Day this year

while she was still a high school student. That really changed our perspective on how we're looking at the case. Mobile County Sheriff Paul Birch is talking about a love letter between defrocked priest Alex Crowe and a former McGill-Tulin High School student that his investigators have uncovered. Clearly, there was some kind of relationship other than a priest and a student.

Let me understand this. A love letter written by the priest to a teen girl on Valentine's Day while she's still a high school student. All right. Let's just get right down to it. Anna Sonoda joining me, child grooming expert, clinical social worker, author of Duck, Duck Groom, Understanding How a Child Becomes a Target. And you can find her at AnnaSonota.com. Anna, listen, it's bad enough when an adult grooms a child for illicit purposes. But in my mind, it's even worse when a pastor, a preacher, a church worker grooms the child. It's bad enough when a school teacher or a principal grooms a child for illicit reasons. What is a priest doing writing a love letter on Valentine's Day to a little girl in high school?

I tell you what, you know, I have steam. Have you ever seen those cartoons when the character gets mad and the steam comes out of their ears? That's how I feel right now because I'm thinking about my children, John, David, and Lucy. If I got a hold of a letter by a pastor, a love letter to them while they're in high school, oh, H-E-L-L-N-O. Nancy, this is an example of how sexual predators, when they're grooming kids, are going to do one of two things. They're either going to relate or they're going to elevate. So when I say relate, I mean, they're going to act like a kid. They're going to believe that they're a peer of that child or they're going to elevate, which means they're going to treat that

kid like they're more mature, possibly like an equal adult. And in this case, the love letter is certainly an example of him trying to relate as a romantic interest to her. Just trying to take this all in. You know, I want you to take a look at him. He's been called a so-called heart throb. Heart throb. Joining us right now is a special guest, Sheriff Paul Birch, the Mobile, Alabama Sheriff. I want to thank you so much, Sheriff, for being with us. Your neck of the woods is especially dear to me.

My father was from Haycota, Alabama, which is near Enterprise, which is near Op, which is near Mobile. That's how I have to explain it to everybody. So thank you, Sheriff Bir Brooks, for being with us. What in the hay is going on? How does a Catholic priest start sending love letters to a girl in high school? This girl is only about one year older than the twins are right now. Can you even imagine, of all people, a Catholic priest writing love letters to a little girl? It's, you know, somewhat of a bizarre situation.

And what we've learned is that, you know, she's not the only girl. He's groomed a couple of young girls. OK, wait a minute. My head is spinning like in The Exorcist. I guess that's appropriate for right now. So this is not the love of his life that he has happened to found. He's grooming other girls at the same time. Well, this is the latest.

You know, there was a young girl that he was previously, you know, acting inappropriately with. And he was ordered to stay away from her. And she's, you know, we're trying to get her to come on board, but she's not exactly cooperating at the moment let me guess you think she's in love this particular one does yes and we refer we refer to her as the 18 year old because all these acts occur when she was a juvenile or the you know what we're going back and looking at so so we're not going to name her as of yet now you're talking about the current girl in it. Correct. We're referring to her as the 18-year-old. Okay, the previous girl, was she also a minor? She was.

Actually, the two were best friends and went to the same school, same grade. I'm so mad I could chew a nail in half right now, Sheriff. Now, Sheriff, let me understand something. The so-called love letters and the so-called inappropriate behavior, is it of a sexual nature? We believe it is. I will say the letter, and I want to clarify, we've only seen one. The letter, basically, he's expressing his feelings for the 18-year-old in this letter. And it's worded in a romantic way and but

different people starting to come forward telling us some things that they didn't necessarily think a lot of at the time but but now you know it's pieces of the puzzle being put together. Like what? We do know that there was a school trip and allegedly she was seen coming from his hotel room at 1.30 in the morning by others that were on the trip. And we're trying to nail that down and get specifics on that. Again, her coming out of the room, you can't prove what happened behind the closed doors,

but certainly a young girl who would have been 17 at the time coming out of male adults because he's 30 years old. Coming out of a hotel room is certainly something to inquire about. You know what? You just hit me with a bombshell. 1.30 a.m. in the morning. And yes, Sheriff, again, you're absolutely right. If I were prosecuting this case, I would have to have more. I can't tell a jury. What do you think happened in there? No, that's not going to cut it. You got to have more evidence. How you're going to get it? I don't know that yet. Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. In the last days, an ordained priest has been stripped of his priestly duties by the pope. Although the Mobile County sheriffs tried their best, they could not convince

the priest to release his teen wife. And I said that in quotas. To top it all off, we find out this so-called priest who fled to Europe with his teen lover had a long fascination with demonology. What? Now, according to what we're learning now, this priest seemingly married the teen girl, according to a notarized Alabama marriage certificate from the judge at the probate's office that we got our mitts on. But what does that mean to any criminal charges? In the last hours, however, the Pope weighs in. Now, how did the whole thing happen? Greg Algren is with me, international attorney at the USMX Law Group. You know, Greg, the people, the families of these girls have to be standing on their heads right now and you've got the one girl who has turned 18 in the interim with the priest

in Italy I mean proving a case like this is going to be very difficult unless you can get one of the girls to admit what happened. That's the only way. I agree with that. The victim's participation. It seems to me that it would be impossible to get any traction on making a successful prosecution. So that would be key, getting the participation of the girls who were part of the scheme. Unless there's something in those letters or other letters that could prove something of sexual nature has occurred with the girls.

And can I just be very, very blunt to John Delatore, licensed psychologist and mediator who specializes in forensic psychology. You can find him at ResolutionFCS.com. Dr. Delatore, listen, I prosecuted so many statutory rape cases where the victim is a teen girl underage who, by all other analysis, would have, quote, consented. But underage, the child cannot consent, just like a child cannot buy a car. My children who are 16 cannot go buy a car. They can't buy a house. They can't enter into contracts. They can't buy liquor or cigarettes, I pray to God in heaven, because they do not have

legal capacity to enter into a contract or have sex. But when you hear a, quote, love letter, as Sheriff Paul Birch has described, from a 30 year old priest to a teen girl underage, that's, oh, I'm so in love with you. Translation, I want to get in your pants. That's what that means. Well, let me clarify that. Is this Sheriff Birch or Delatory speaking? This is Sheriff Paul Birch. Go ahead. Go ahead, Sheriff. I want to clarify in Alabama, the legal age of consent is 16.

But the law that we're pursuing this case under a teacher, employee of a school, volunteer of a school, counselor, cannot have a sexual relationship with a student regardless of age. She could have been 20 and it would still be illegal. So they're in a fiduciary position like a counselor, a teacher, a priest where you owe a certain degree of, let me just say, care to the victim. Unlike a stranger. Got it. Got it. Okay. But I wouldn't be surprised if some of these letters predate all the way back to age 16.

I don't know that yet, but something had to lead up to the letter, Sheriff. The letter just didn't happen overnight. We're still waiting on text, and we're still waiting on all the information from her phone, from his phones. And, you know, obviously subpoenas have been sent out. We're just waiting on that information to come back. And back to you, Dr. John Delatore, licensed psychologist. All the flowery language this priest may have written in these letters. It all means the same thing.

He is involved in some type of an inappropriate, if not sexual nature with a teen girl. Bam. Yeah, it absolutely means that. But here's the other aspect to it is that not only is there flowery aspects related to whatever content might be in his love letters, but he's also weaponizing this sort of tortured soul that he is interested in demonology and exorcism. All of these kinds of things sort of present himself and portray himself in a way in which he is sort of this one person against evil that can now draw

from the goodness and purity of these teen girls and draw from them so that he can now have their strength and i imagine that that's how he's approaching. To Anna Sonoda, again, child grooming expert and author of Duck, Duck, Groom. Anna, what is more attractive to a person, much less a teen girl, than the love object they can't have? The proverbial apple in the Garden of Eden. The grass greener on the other side. The thing you can't have turns out to be the thing you suddenly realize you want the most, a priest. This case is disgusting, Nancy. And I want to clarify that this occurs in all denominations. This is a persistent problem whenever you have adults and minors

coexisting. And grooming is a perverse form of courtship. And it's fueled, sexual predators are fueled by gas, grooming, access, and space. So you have already seen examples of him using grooming techniques by complimenting, giving favors, and building in this child a sense of connection. But we also have just learned that he had access and he had available spaces. And if grooming is going to continue, we must withhold access and limit any available spaces. You know what's interesting? Everybody, I want you to hear this. When my twins first went to scout camp, I immediately thought, oh, dear, molestation, murder.

I have to train as a volunteer and I have to go camp with them, which I made my husband do as well for a week, lying on the ground, camping out. So as it turned out, they loved it and it was a wonderful experience for them. But my point is, so I was a volunteer counselor and there was a little boy from another troop, I didn't know him, who was standing in the middle of a dirt road crying his eyes out. Crying, snotting, I mean wailing like, ooh, ooh. And I went up, he could not have been older than, you know, seventh grade. And he was a frail, small little boy. And I went up to him, I hugged him, and I said, what is wrong, son? Do you need to get in touch with your parents what happened I mean in 15

seconds another troop leader came up took me by the arm and pull me back and said don't touch him you can help him but don't hug him and it then that moment I felt angry because this child was crying. All it was was he was homesick, by the way. He had never been away from home before and he wanted to go home. But they were right. They were right and I was wrong. So as she, Anna Sunoda, was just describing, we were out in a whole group of people in

literally the middle of the road, but giving access alone time to an adult and a child, I hate that's the way the world is, but it is, that should not be allowed. I want to talk about this guy's obsession with demonology. Then there is the other aspect, and that is this so-called father, the priest's obsession with exorcism and demonology. And he's in Italy with this girl, this U.S., this American girl. Take a listen to our friends at WPMI. They're afraid something is going to happen to their daughter, Hernandez told NBC 15 News. She is with someone who the sheriff's office considers a predator. While Mobile County Sheriff

Paul Birch hasn't used that exact word to describe Crow, he came close. I believe there was some grooming that's going on and you've got a much older adult interacting with teenage girls in an inappropriate way. Adding to the concern is the acknowledgement by Sheriff Birch that Crow has shown a fascination with demonology and exorcisms and told people he was going to Europe with a young woman to perform exorcisms. OK, let that sink in. Why do you have to take a teen girl with you to Europe to perform exorcisms? The Pope in Vatican City weighs in on an Alabama priest who takes off with a teen girl seemingly marrying her. Now, the Mobile County District Attorney's Office explains that they have interviewed 30 witnesses, received thousands of pages of documents provided by the archdiocese, but they have actually spoken to the teen girl to determine what happened. They say she appeared in good health and insisted she was safe. The girl brought an attorney with her to the meeting, and the attorney and the teen girl, quote,

declined to answer questions about the circumstances surrounding her disappearance or any other questions. Now, according to the archdiocese, quote, while Crow's behavior has been scandalous, the archdiocese does not have any information to indicate Crowe has committed a crime. Hmm. What more do we know? Let me go straight out to Reverend Dr. Bob Larson, founder of Spiritual Freedom Churches International and author of Book of Religions, Cults and New Age Spirituality. You can find him at BobLarson.org. Preacher,

thank you so much for being with us. What exactly is demonology? Demonology is the study of Satan and evil and demons in the spirit world. And there are two aspects to it. One, which is a demonological aspect from non-Christians or Satanists and people who want to make that contact with power. On the Christian side, it's the study of evil to understand it and combat it through spiritual warfare. Now, I agree with what has been said already, but I think there may be a point being missed here. I would not say that he has an obsession. I watched the videos of the teaching. This is a priest who had been to the Vatican he

had studied exorcism early as an exorcist myself and writing about this he knew what he was talking about he was excellent in his teaching he was Christian he was Catholic everything he said was absolutely perfect now if you add to that a demented mind and let's suppose that now he is taking this knowledge, which he has, which there's nothing wrong with it, but he's somehow using it to manipulate her. He now has another tool over her in that now he is a spiritual mentor trying to deliver her from evil. Now, that gets really twisted. What exactly takes place during an exorcism? Well, according to Catholic tradition, there's the major, the minor, and then the deleterious exorcism.

And if you could not do a major exorcism because he doesn't have a vision, condoning it, obviously. Okay, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. I can't understand what you're saying. What did you say? He cannot perform an exorcism because of what? So in Catholicism, there are basically three levels of exorcisms. The highest level is a major exorcism, which is what we usually connote with what you see in the movies. And that requires approval by the bishop, whoever is presiding over his jurisdiction. So he can't just go do that on his own. Now, a minor exorcism, of which baptism is included in the Catholic Church, he can do that on his own. But he can also do what's called a deliverance, which basically any professing

Christian, according to Catholicism, can do. It just doesn't have the ritualism of the major exorcism. My point is, he could say, this girl has demons, or she seduced him because she has demons, because he's an expert in this area. I think there's another spin to this that no one has touched on. That is the fact that this priest was an expert in the area

as taught by the Catholic Church. And I think there's the possibility that he's using his extensive knowledge, which there's nothing wrong with. He's been to the Vatican. He has learned it. He knows what he's talking about. But if he then uses as an additional ploy, this young woman saying that she has demons and that he somehow is called by God to rid her of her demons, then he could be highly manipulative and he could combine his own carnal interests with spiritualism. And this would be a very dangerous mind trip to put this young woman on. I just want to point out that you said he's not really authorized to perform higher levels of exorcism. FYI, he's not authorized to send letters, romantic letters to a little girl and then take her with him to Italy to perform exorcisms.

So I'm pretty sure he's gone rogue and he's doing whatever the hay he feels like doing. Sheriff Paul Birch, agree, disagree? He's actually been, you know, I guess, banned or fired from the Catholic Church here in Mobile. And I'm sure the Archdiocese are involved in that as well. I just wonder, is the Italian government helping at all? I'm going to go to Irv Brandt, senior inspector, U.S. Marshal Service with that. But first, speaking of this whole exorcism and demonic obsession, I want you to take a listen to our cut three and one. First of all, hear Alex Crow himself and our friends at Crime Online. Hello, my name is Alex Crow. I'm a parishioner of St.

Ignatius Parish. I'm going to be a junior at St. Joseph Abbey Seminary College. When I first came back to the church about three years ago, the first book I ever read was The Way of Perfection. So I found that Carmelite spirituality has put a large part in my seminary formation. Growing up in what he calls a weird home, with a lot of weird stuff happening in the home, Alex Crowe says he would hear things moving around or banging in different rooms, and claims that over a period of three to four years, he suffered from chest pains, migraine-like headaches. But a battery of medical tests, psychological tests, and talking with specialists revealed nothing out of the ordinary. According to AL.com, Crow claimed in a podcast that when he stepped into a church,

he felt as if he would pass out. Crow said a priest performed what he described as a minor exorcism or a deliverance prayer on him. Alex Crow said he felt immediately better, and that started a long process with, quote, me needing deliverance from a priest, unquote. So this is a guy that has had an exorcism done on himself, a mild exorcism. I'm not sure what the various stages of exorcism are. We don't have exorcism in the Methodist Church,

and I am by no means poo-pooing it. I don't know the difference between a mild exorcism and a more severe exorcism. We heard Dr. Reverend Bob Larson describe the most serious types of exorcisms, the type you see on movies and on TV. But that all aside, I'm a trial lawyer, not a priest and certainly not an expert in Catholicism. But I know this, Sheriff Paul Birch, somebody sending love letters to my teen girl. There's going to be hell to pay, much less when he takes off to Italy with her. I agree. You know, and one thing you brought up that we haven't really discussed is his, Crow's dad's a local attorney. So that, you know, obviously throws a little bit of a hindrance. Wait, who is a local attorney? Alice Crow's dad is a local attorney.

What does he have to say about his son taking a girl off to Italy to perform exorcisms like they don't have priests to perform exorcisms in Italy? Well, he hasn't said anything. And, you know, again, you know, I'm sure he's in an odd position, too, as his son. I guess he is, Sheriff. You can say that again. Irv Brandt, help me out here, guys. Irv Brandt. I'm going to Irv because I need an expert in extradition and foreign affairs. Irv Brandt, Senior Inspector, U.S. Marshal Service, International Investigations, Chief

Inspector, DOJ, Office of International Affairs. He's an author of Solo Shot, Curse of the Blue Stone, and Flying Solo, Top of the World, both on Amazon. Number one, there's nothing to extradite. I put the cart before the horse right there because he hasn't been charged with a crime yet. But what can you tell me about this situation? I understand the two have been found in Italy and, quote, they're in an Airbnb with separate bedrooms. Are you serious? Like, separate bedrooms means anything? But that said, what's your take on this, Earl Brandt?

Oh, it's tricky, Nancy. The Europeans view sex crimes and appropriate behavior with minors quite differently. Oh, you mean like Roman Polanski? That's where I was going with this. Yes. And as Sheriff Birch was talking about in his investigation, that this may lead to inappropriate behavior with someone in a position of authority and that it's possible that a warrant may be issued. It's highly unlikely that it could be extradited from any European country and particularly Italy where the age of consent is 14.

Okay. Well, wait, wait, wait, wait. Irv. Yes. I thought I knew you. I thought I knew what you were going to say. You do know me. But I did not know the age of consent in Italy is 14.

Are you sure? Wait, Sydney, Jackie, Google that. I already did. Is he right? Yes. Well, apparently Google agrees with you. The age of consent is 14. Now, unless it's involved with, like as Sheriff Birch was saying, where he said there's no age restriction if it's someone with a position of authority. In Italy, if it's with a person in position of authority, a teacher, a priest, a police officer, whatever,

it would be 16. The age of consent is 16. So there lies the dilemma. What do you charge him with? Italy is not going to help us, even if we did have a formal charge. If they want to extradite Roman Polanski, who drugged a girl and had sex with her, a little girl in a hot tub. They're not going to extradite a priest of all places.

I mean, Vatican Central. There it is. Okay, Sheriff Paul Birch, I don't even know how to formulate the first question here. How far back do the grooming letters go? If the girl just turned 18, how far back do the letters of grooming go? The letter that we've seen goes back to around Valentine's Day. But we do know that they've known each other for at least two years. One question I have with the previous guest is they're only on there on passport. So which they can only be there for 90 days. So I'm wondering.

You're smart, Sheriff. Sheriff, I know what you're I know what you're getting at. But with the EU, Americans are visa exempt. But you are correct. They could only stay for 90 days. EU, European Union, you're saying that the European Union exempts U.S. citizens from passport violations? No, they're visa exempt. But the sheriff is right that they can only stay in the country for 90 days.

But that person doesn't have to return to the U.S. to start the 90 days over. If you're in Italy and you can only be in Italy 90 days, you can go to Germany for one day, then return to Italy and stay for another 90 days. Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. crime stories with nancy grace now some people claim that this young priest is handsome i don't see it we also know that this young priest crow claims to have been exercised of demons when he was a child we have also learned that the disgraced priest somehow has married the teen girl.

How did this happen? Take a listen to our friends at CrimeOnline.com and Fox 10. After graduating from McGill-Tooling Catholic School in Mobile, Alabama, Alex Crowe attended Spring Hill College for a year before dropping out to form a band. Playing a mix of blues, rock, and pop covers, Alex Crowe and the Ultra Boys played several venues in the Mobile, Alabama area and even did a homecoming dance at McGill-Tuland. According to AL.com, after working the local scene with limited success, Crowe says he was called into the priesthood. So he attended St. Joseph Catholic College before getting his Bachelor of Sacred Theology from San Selmo in Rome.

He earned his Master of Divinity degree from St. Minard Seminary and School of Theology in Indiana. But for much of his adult life, Alex Crow spent his time studying demonology and exorcism, becoming an expert on the topic and sharing his knowledge on video, podcast, and as an invited lecturer to students. Let me just drink that in for a moment. For much of his adult life, he spends time studying demonology and exorcism, and now he has a teen girl with him in Italy against the will of her parents. But that's not all. Take a listen to our friends at Fox 10.

The Mobile County Sheriff's Office confirming today that the priest and woman he left the country with have been located in Italy. The Archdiocese says Alex Crowe abandoned his assignment at the Corpus Christi Catholic Church, calling his behavior, quote, totally unbecoming of a priest. Meanwhile, Mobile County Sheriff Paul Birch says there is no doubt that this story is a bizarre case, but at this time there's nothing criminal going on. With me is special guest Sheriff Paul Birch from Mobile, Alabama. Sheriff, I understand the two are in Italy with no plans to return home, despite the teen girl's parents flying to Italy, begging her to come home. I also understand that this priest, a so-called heartthrob, Alex Crow, says he went to Italy to perform an exorcism on this teen girl. He had to go to Italy to perform an exorcism.

Sheriff? Well, I think that may have been misstated. He talked about performing exorcisms, but not necessarily on her, but he wanted her to travel with him. And I actually spoke to her several times a week before last, pleaded with her to come home and tried to, you know, so let's, if he loves you so much, come back and do it right. And just, she wouldn't hear anything of it. You know, her parents were basically asked to leave. Um, he,

cause he would never let her talk to them alone, you know, and I was actually sending investigators to try to talk to her. And the next day was told if, if our guys were to land in Italy to interview anybody, they'd be arrested by the Italian officials. So we had to back off of that. Okay, wait, let me understand what you just said. Italian officials say if you touch down to interview her or the priest, they'll arrest you?

They were going to arrest my detectives and prosecute if we would have succeeded in going over there. So we contacted our local FBI office who has helped facilitate with the Italian officials. Who believe the age of consent is 14.

Okay, so guys I want you to take a listen to our cut 19, our friends at Fox 10 Mobile. My understanding through my investigators that when family met up with them, they were in separate bedrooms, you know, in an Airbnb type situation. And the 18-year-old is adamant that there's no intimate relationship. Like I said, just kind of a bizarre story. Sheriff Birch says Crow left a letter with the Archdiocese stating he would never return to America.

Is he going to keep this girl with him the whole time? Kyle Hamrick with me, investigative reporter for Laniat News in Mobile. Kyle, is that true that when visitors from the U.S. got there, they are in an Airbnb with separate bedrooms and that that's what they want everyone to believe? That's what law enforcement sources told me was a family member went to Italy to to see them and check on them. And they found them in an Airbnb kind of home with two separate bedrooms. And that was the first story for a few days was that there was nothing funny going on, no romantic connection. And now the young woman is saying that she's in love and does not want to leave him.

OK, see, Anna Sonoda with me, child grooming expert and author of Duck, Duck Groom, Understanding How a Child Becomes a Target. That's what's so dangerous right here is that the grooming began. I mean, this guy has been taking confessions at her location since 2021 when she was 16. The grooming, I believe, began before she was 18. Now she is entrenched in the idea that she is in love with a heartthrob priest obsessed with demonology, and she's completely under his control in another country, a country that will not help the U.S. Nancy, the other thing that's come out in several of your panel members is that this guy is a serial predator. When we're looking at child sex abuse predators, 70% of them have one to nine victims

and 20% have 10 to 40 victims. So you've already seen an example that this guy was on someone's radar in Mobile. And the risk factors that are inherent in people who work in church systems are that they are actually part of a higher power. They're often called from God himself in order to do their job. And there's built-in obedience and deference. And we ask people within religious environments to be vulnerable. And in those same ways, this predator was perfectly positioned with young, obedient girls to implement a trap in order to gain access and then isolate her. The fact that we're talking about how many bedrooms are in Airbnb makes me want to explode. Why does he need to isolate her? It's only because he has her in a relationship

that is predatory and she is powerless. Sheriff, didn't I hear you say that he would not allow her to speak to anyone without him being there? Correct. Even with her parents, he was right there the entire time. Because I was on the phone with them and her through different parts of the day a week or so ago. And just you could hear him interject. And one advantage he has, too, is I don't know how fluent he is, but he speaks Italian

to some degree. And when official did show up, he would speak to them in Italian. So no one else knew what was going on or what was being said. But like I said, the family, the mother and father were asked to leave after being there for a few days. Sheriff, here's the harsh truth. She's 18 now. So unless you can prove grooming or not just inappropriate activity, criminal wrongdoing.

There's no hope of getting him back. And even if you can prove it, they're in Italy. Who doesn't give a flying fig about the U.S. law? Our real hope is to get her back. I don't care if he wants to live as a fugitive for the rest of his life. I think we'll get to where we can get some felony warrants on him, hopefully this week. You know, if he wants to live as a fugitive the rest of his life, that's his business. We want to get her back is the ultimate goal. Sheriff, have you ever seen a case where you believe there's no way you can get justice?

Not in this degree. I, you know, when I was told that by, you know, through email, Italian officials, you know, I was like, well, there goes the brotherhood of law enforcement. Well, you know, you should become familiar with us saying that we have in our home. It's a highly technical legal phrase. Screw you and the horse you rode in on. I believe is how i would put it to the italian authorities on this one but until she wants to come home i don't think you've got a case unless you can prove through this other friend the friend girl or the letters or some other witness that some type of wrongdoing criminal wrong wrongdoing occurred, you're screwed.

Sheriff? I will say the Italian officials were helpful in one way when the parents were there. There was an iPad that both her, the girl, and Crow really wanted to keep, but the parents were able to convince them that they paid for it, it belonged to them. So the authorities did give the parents the laptop or the iPad, and it's actually at our local FBI office trying to gain access to it. They really did not want that to leave their hands, so I'm hoping there's something in there that will strengthen the case

and get us over the hill on being able to sign charges on him. I am hoping that between texts, emails, love letters, and that iPad that the parents miraculously got their mitts on, you may be able to prove the case and get this girl home. I feel that she's been brainwashed. What more do we know? Alex Crow and the teen returned to the U.S. before Christmas. A marriage certificate was filed in Alabama. The district attorney, Keith Blackwood, said he met with the young woman and prosecutors and she declined to

answer any questions. The pair were in Italy for approximately four months. Crow has now been formally removed as a member of the clergy by the Vatican. This defraud clergy member, initially ordained in 2021, actually attended St. Anselmo in Rome, Italy, and got a Bachelor of Sacred Theology. He also studied demons and exorcisms. I will say this is the first time in any criminal investigation I have had the Pope weigh in. Now, I am just a lowly Methodist, but there are several things I really like about this Pope. One is he knows how to tango. That said, we wait as justice unfolds. Goodbye, friend.

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