Affidavit in former Waco priest’s child porn arrest indicates string of sex assault complaints

FORT WORTH (TX)
Waco Tribune-Herald [Waco, TX]

July 17, 2024

By Christopher De Los Santos

An affidavit in the arrest Tuesday of a former Waco-area priest indicates Waco police came across child pornography in his online accounts while they were investigating the complaint of one of four women who accused him of sexual assault.

The Rev. Anthony Okoneffiong Odiong, 56, was being held Wednesday in Florida’s Collier County Jail without bail on the child pornography charge, waiting for transfer to McLennan County.

Odiong, who served as pastor at St. Peter Catholic Student Center near Baylor University and St. Mary of the Assumption Catholic Church in West from 2007 to 2012, was dismissed from a church in Luling, Louisiana, in December.

Since then, the Diocese of Fort Worth in February has warned churches not to allow Odiong to engage with parishioners, suggesting that he had disregarded a ban by the Diocese of Austin on ministering in that diocese, which includes McLennan County.

The arrest affidavit for Odiong indicates four women have described abuse that amounts to serial sexual assault. If a fifth survivor is found, the investigation could proceed without being bound by statutes of limitation.

Waco police were investigating a woman’s accusation of a 2012 sexual assault by Odiong when they discovered the child pornography, according to the arrest affidavit. The lewd image of a nude girl, likely under the age of 10, was discovered on his online cloud account that could be accessed when he was in McLennan County as recently as Feb. 4, according to the affidavit. The image was saved in 2020, the affidavit states.

One of the survivors who came forward to Waco police also contacted the Waco-area law firm of Callahan & King, partner Christopher King said by phone Wednesday. The firm plans to file suit in a state district court in Travis County against Odiong for acts of abuse and against church leadership of the Catholic Diocese of Austin for facilitating Odiong’s acts, King said.

“We will file the suit soon, but we need to be sensitive to the timeline of the criminal prosecution and also the statute of limitations for civil liability,” King said.

King hopes Odiong’s arrest will embolden survivors to reach out to Waco police investigators and also to seek justice through the civil courts.

“Because of the level of manipulation and gaslighting that can go on when clergy abuse parishioners, some victims may not even realize they are victims,” King said. “We stand ready to help all the victims.”

King shared with the Tribune-Herald a memo signed by the vicar general of the Diocese of Fort Worth in February warning parishioners against Odiong. In Roman Catholic organizational structure, the vicar general is the No. 2 diocesan leader behind the bishop.

“Please place the following statement in your parish’s weekly bulletin and post it on your social media account and parish website,” the Very Rev. Jonathan Wallis, vicar general of the Fort Worth Diocese, wrote on Feb. 12. “Please notify me immediately if you learn that Rev. Odiong is planning events or contacting parishioners within our Diocese. Additionally, please read the statement during your regular announcements during Masses this coming weekend of February 17-18, 2024:

“’The Diocese of Fort Worth has been informed by the Diocese of Austin that Rev. Anthony Odiong, a priest of the Diocese of Uyo, Nigeria, is believed to be residing within the Diocese of Austin and is engaging with parishioners and participating in unsanctioned events without permission. Rev. Odiong has been instructed by the Diocese of Austin not to engage in ministry, visit parishes, or engage with parishioners within the Diocese of Austin. The Rev. Odiong has been recalled by his bishop in Nigeria but has failed to comply with the directive to return to his home diocese.

“Rev. Odiong does not have faculties to engage in ministry in the Diocese of Fort Worth. He does not have permission to engage with parishioners or participate in events within our Diocese. We ask that you decline to attend any event at which Rev. Odiong may be present or involved. Please contact your pastor to advise of such invitations or events within our Diocese.”

The letter from Wallis does not indicate why Odiong had been banned from ministry and recalled by his bishop in Nigeria.

However, the Austin Diocese sent a letter in 2019 to Odiong warning him that he was barred from any ministry within the diocese due to complaints regarding his “behavior with adult women,” as well as his lack of authorization by the bishop to minister. The letter was forwarded to the Archdiocese of New Orleans and Odiong’s bishop in Nigeria, according to Austin diocesan officials.

However, Odiong continued to minister in Luling, Louisiana, under the Archdiocese of New Orleans from 2015 until December 2023.

The Archdiocese of New Orleans on Tuesday issued short public statement noting Odiong’s child pornography arrest and encouraging cooperation with the police investigation. However, the statement did not acknowledge the earlier warnings from Austin or the reasons for his dismissal from the Luling congregation.

Odiong himself took to social media on April 26 to denouncing a series of articles in The Guardian regarding sexual abuse allegations against him and the inaction of Catholic leaders in his case.

“Recent publications in The Guardian have painted a false, salacious and one-sided smear campaign against me,” Odiong wrote in part. “A private investigation revealed that the Archdiocese of New Orleans received only one claim by one mentally unstable woman with proven and publicly documented financial problems. The woman presented text messages to the Archdiocese admitting that she imagines things in her mind.”

He goes on to “categorically deny all the false allegations made against me.”

Odiong wrote that he will “faithfully serve God’s people in obedience to my bishop in Nigeria.”

The post does not mention that Odiong’s bishop had ordered his return to Nigeria.