US Catholic priest indicted on sexual assault charges
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TEXAS – A Catholic priest was indicted in Texas on felony sexual assault charges after several victims accused him of sexual and financial abuse, according to court documents and investigators.
The priest, Anthony Odiong, was indicted on Sept 12 by a grand jury in McLennan County, Texas, on two counts of second-degree sexual assault and one count of first-degree sexual assault.
He was arrested in July in Ave Maria, Florida, when investigators found him in possession of child pornography while looking into sexual assault claims reported to the police, according to a Facebook post from the Waco Police Department.
Odiong was charged with possession of child pornography upon arrest, but the charge was not included in the Sept 12 indictment, according to court documents.
The police said they had been investigating Odiong for months because they had “credible information” alleging he committed a sexual assault in 2012.
Detective Bradley DeLange said that during the investigation, the police found several women with similar stories of abuse as the original victim who had come forward. At least eight women have spoken to the police and claimed that the priest groped, sexually assaulted or financially abused them.
Under Texas law, it is considered sexual assault if members of the clergy engage in sexual activity with individuals who depend on them emotionally as a “spiritual advisers”.
Odiong served as a priest at St Peter Catholic Student Center in Waco, Texas, and at St Mary’s Church of the Assumption in West, Texas, from 2007 to 2012, according to the police, and he also served in Luling, Louisiana, from around 2015 to 2023.
Odiong was brought to McLennan County Jail on Aug 6 and is being held on a US$2.5 million (S$3.2 million) bond, according to jail documents.
He faces up to 20 years in prison if convicted on the second-degree sexual assault charges and could get life in prison for his first-degree felony charge, according to Mr Christopher King, a lawyer representing several people in a separate civil case against the priest.
It was not immediately clear if Odoing had legal representation to reach for comment. NYTIMES
