Mobile County sheriff joins DA in closing case of former Alabama priest Alex Crow
A day after the Mobile County District Attorney’s Office said there was insufficient evidence to support criminal charges against former priest Alex Crow, the Mobile County Sheriff’s Office followed suit.
“The Mobile County Sheriff’s Office has completed our investigation on Alex Crow and the eighteen year old female graduate from McGill-Toolen High School,” read a statement from the MCSO. “At this time we find no evidence to charge Alex Crow with criminal charges.
The sheriff’s office said they had consulted with the district attorney’s office and “the case is now closed.”
Mobile County Sheriff Paul Burch has at various times accused Crow of being a pedophile and of “grooming” the young woman, and others, but ultimately Crow was not charged with any crime.
Mobile County District Attorney Keith Blackwood said Monday his office had interviewed the young woman, who declined to answer questions surrounding her travels with Crow or their relationship. As a result, district attorney Keith Blackwood said the case is closed.
Blackwood said his office had interviewed over 30 witnesses and examined thousands of documents, but were unable to find sufficient evidence of any criminal activity by Crow. He said the young woman “appeared seemingly in good health and said that she is safe” and was accompanied by an attorney during her interview with investigators.
“Without being able to speak with the young lady about these events, we do not have sufficient admissible evidence to charge a crime at this time,” Blackwood said in a statement. “Therefore, this investigation is currently closed.”
Crow and the young woman have been at the center of a church scandal. After he was stripped of his duties as a priest in July after the archdiocese said he had “abandoned his assignment.”
Crow had reportedly left the country with the 18-year-old woman, with the two later located in Italy by a family member of the young woman.
Officials of the Archdiocese of Mobile also issued a statement Monday, saying they were “relieved” to learn Crow and the young woman had returned. They, too, said they had no knowledge of any criminal actions by Crow.
“While Crow’s behavior has been scandalous, the Archdiocese does not have any information to indicate that Crow has committed any crime,” the archdiocese said in a statement.
The archdiocese also noted Crow has been removed from the ministry and still prohibited from performing duties as a priest or presenting himself as a priest.