Catholic priest found guilty of sexually abusing women under his spiritual care in Texas
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ACatholic priest from Nigeria has been found guilty by a Texas court of sexually abusing several women under his spiritual care, a felony crime in that state.
Fr. Anthony Odiong, a priest of the Diocese of Uyo, Nigeria, had been charged under Texas state law with several felony counts of sexual assault.
After listening to graphic testimony from several witnesses, the jury found the 57-year-old priest guilty of one charge of sexual assault in the first degree and two in the second degree, in a May 29 verdict delivered at the 19th State District Court in Waco, Texas.
The priest had also fathered at least one child with another woman in Louisiana who had been under his spiritual direction, according to DNA evidence cited by prosecutors.
In addition, Odiong — who had served at a student Catholic center at Baylor University in Waco — was arrested in southwest Florida in 2024 for possession of child pornography, while living near a Catholic university at which he hoped to gain employment.
The case — which has been extensively covered since 2023 by investigative journalist Ramon Antonio Vargas for The Guardian — highlights the Catholic Church’s ongoing challenges in addressing clergy sexual predation of adults in situations where they are vulnerable, particularly in relationships of pastoral care or spiritual guidance, while states such as Texas and Georgia have passed laws to criminalize such acts.
With the accused priest’s assignments and travels spanning several U.S. dioceses, as well as his home diocese in Nigeria, the matter also underscores the difficulties of tracking and investigating clergy abuse across episcopal jurisdictions under the U.S. Church’s current framework.
The priest was not charged with crimes connected to fathering at least two minor children; however, prosecutors sought to show his alleged sexual advances as a member of the clergy — a felony in Texas — demonstrated a pattern of targeting vulnerable women.
Odiong had entered a plea of not guilty on May 27. He had been in prison since 2024 in lieu of a $5.5 million bond, after rejecting a proposed 20-year plea deal in December of that year.
In April, Judge Thomas West allowed prosecutors to consolidate three separate indictments — which represented seven charges brought by three victims — into one trial.
The Diocese of Austin, Texas, in which Waco is located, declined to comment to OSV News earlier on May 29, saying the trial was “now underway.”
However, the diocese confirmed that Odiong is incardinated in the Diocese of Uyo — where he was ordained in 1993 — and referred OSV News to that diocese “for any clarification about his clerical status.” OSV News is awaiting a response to a request placed with the Diocese of Uyo for such clarification.
The Diocese of Austin said that the priest “is present in the geographical boundaries of the Diocese and is residing in detention in Waco,” adding that “he does not have permission from the Diocese of Austin to engage in priestly ministry.”
In response to a separate request from OSV News, before the verdict was issued, the Diocese of Austin declined to provide a full timeline of Odiong’s diocesan pastoral assignments, which included duties at St. Peter Catholic Student Center at Baylor University in Waco.
According to The Guardian, one of the witnesses in the priest’s trial, an adult female named only as “Mary Doe,” testified May 27 that Odiong had preyed on her sexually after she met him in 2008 until 2011. She was going through a divorce after an abusive marriage while raising her seven children under 12. According to her testimony, the priest had offered to be her spiritual adviser after he saw her weeping during Mass at the center, which she attended while working at the university. She testified that she entered into spiritual direction under him at his urging, but in the ensuing weeks, Odiong began to sexualize the relationship which escalated eventually into intercourse.
She told the court their sexual encounters — discovered by at least one of her children in 2011 — took place at her home as well as at the center, with Father Odiong’s office and the confessional among the locations.
In November 2024, Bishop Joe Vásquez, then bishop of Austin and now archbishop of Galveston-Houston, said he was “deeply saddened” as news of the allegations emerged about Odiong.
Noting that the priest was from the Diocese of Uyo and had previously served in Austin, Vásquez said at the time that he remained “committed to cooperating with and supporting law enforcement in their efforts.”
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Content retrieved from: https://www.ncronline.org/news/catholic-priest-found-guilty-sexually-abusing-women-under-his-spiritual-care-texas.
