AUSTIN (TX)
KWTX-10 [Waco, TX]
September 12, 2024
By Tommy Witherspoon
A former Catholic priest who worked in Waco and West who was arrested in Florida two months ago was indicted Thursday in two alleged McLennan County sexual assaults.
A McLennan County grand jury indicted Father Anthony Odiong, 55, on three counts of second-degree felony sexual assault in two separate indictments alleging he sexually assaulted two women. If convicted, Odiong faces up to life in prison on one indictment because the victim is someone he was prohibited by statute from marrying. On the two counts in the second indictment he faces up to 20 years in prison for each count.
Odiong, who is alleged to have taken advantage of women during their weakest times, remains in the McLennan County Jail under bonds totaling $2.5 million. He also has a pending possession of child pornography charge.
At least eight women have come forward since his arrest saying he used his position as priest and spiritual adviser to manipulate them and sexually assault them between 2007 and 2023, Waco police officials have said.
Waco attorneys Chris King and Robert Callahan are representing one of Odiong’s alleged victims and said they expect to file a civil lawsuit against Odiong and the Catholic Diocese of Austin.
“I sought spiritual direction from Anthony Odiong during one of the darkest phases of my life,” King’s client said in a statement. “Rather than helping me, he exploited my vulnerability and trust. He manipulated, coerced, threatened, and assaulted me and the Austin diocese did nothing to protect me, despite having received at least one previous report about his conduct.
“My marriage and relationship with my children, my physical and psychological health, and, most importantly, my relationship with God have suffered badly for over a decade as a direct result of his abuse.
“I am heartbroken to learn that I am only one of many women who has endured his abuse. I am grateful, however, to live in a state that recognizes what he did as the serious crime that it is.”
According to arrest documents, Odiong came under investigation in March when one of his victims, identified in court documents by the pseudonym Mary Doe, reported a sexual assault by a clergy member to the Waco Police Department. The alleged assaults occurred over multiple dates between 2008 and 2011, arrest records allege.
Mary Doe said she submitted to sexual intercourse with Odiong without her consent because of his authority and position as a priest in the Catholic Church, the affidavit states. She said their interactions began as “spiritual direction” sessions that eventually led to Odiong making sexual advances, and later, the sexual assaults, the document states.
Odiong initially was arrested July 16 in Florida on a warrant for possession of child pornography, which was discovered through the investigation into the sexual assaults.
Waco police investigators wrote in the affidavit that after the recent news of his arrest, Odiong received phone calls in jail from supporters who told him, that regardless of the cost, his release from jail on bail will be facilitated.
Police fear victims or supporters who remain sympathetic to Odiong could help him flee the U.S. if he is granted bond.
Odiong, the warrants state, has “access to immense of amounts of money, contacts with money who follow him and provide heavily through financial means, and access to passports and multiple avenues to flee the country.”
The United States Marshals Service informed police that Odiong holds both American and Nigerian passports, and frequently leaves the United States, the document states.