Rev. Felix Charles Owino, a.j.
Summary of Case: From Nairobi, Kenya. Arrested July 8, 2010 in Fairfax, VA; charged with inappropriate touching of an 11-year-old girl. Diocese removed his faculties the day after his arrest and informed his Order. He had been serving as associate pastor at a Weirton parish. He had also taught at Wheeling Jesuit University for two years. Previously worked in NH and Reading, PA. Pled guilty September 29, 2010. Sentenced February 19, 2011 to Five years' prison with all but Nine months suspended. Already served over seven months awaiting trial. Owino's name was included on the Wheeling-Charleston diocese's list in late 2018. It notes there was also an allegation July 5, 2010 of inappropriate touching of an adult, and that he was deported back to Africa.
Ordained: 1992
![]() |
Start | Stop | Assignment | Town/Accusations | State/Country | Position | Notes |
1992 | 1997 | Apostles of Jesus Minor Seminary | Uganda | Rector | Sometime prior to arriving in the U.S., Owino held this position. (catholicculture.org, July 13, 2010) | |
National Shrine of the Most Sacred Hear of Jesus and Immaculate Heart of Mary | Nairobi | Kenya | Rector | Sometime prior to arriving in the U.S., Owino held this position. (catholicculture.org, July 13, 2010) He is not indexed in the Directories until 1998. | ||
1997 Pittsburgh bishop was Donald William Wuerl (1988-2006) |
2001 | St. Bede's | Pittsburgh | PA | 3/3 In residence. |
Parish had a school with 292-308 students. Owino earned an MA., PhD in philosophy from Dusquene University. He was likely pursuing this degree while in residence at St. Bede's. |
2001 Allentown bishop was Edward Peter Cullen (1997-2009) |
2002 | St. Peter's | Reading | PA | 5/5 In residence. |
|
2002 | 2003 | Owino is not indexed in the 2003 Directory, nor is he listed at his previous or next assignments. | ||||
2003 | 2005 | St. Bede's | Pittsburgh | PA | 2/3 In residence. |
Parish had a school with 350 students, and a religious education program with 90 students. |
2005 Manchester bishop was John Brendan McCormack (1998- ) |
2007 | Magdalen College | Warner | NH | Chaplain | School had 71-70 students. |
2007 | 2008 | Owino is not indexed in the 2007 Directory, nor is he listed at his previous or next assignments. | ||||
2008 Wheeling-Charleston bishop was Michael Joseph Bransfield (2004- ) |
2010 | Wheeling Jesuit | Wheeling | WV | faculty member | Owino is not indexed in the 2009 Directory. This assignment is per news reports. He joined the Wheeling Jesuit faculty in the Fall of 2008. (Wheeling News-Register July 13, 2010) |
2010 | St. Paul's | Weirton • Owino was accused in July 2010 of inappropriate touching an 11 year old girl in Fairfax, VA. He was said to have been a "longtime friend of the family". (WTOV |
WV | associate pastor | Owino is not indexed in the 2009 Directory. This assignment is per news reports. (Wheeling News-Register Owino was arrested July 8, 2010 and held a the Adult Detention Center in Fairfax while awaiting a September trial. |
Source: Official Catholic Directory (New York: P.J. Kenedy and Sons, 1993-2009)
Priests in a Parish: We use the following
convention to show a priest's place among the clergy of a parish: 1/2 means
that he is the first priest listed in the Official Catholic Directory (usually
the pastor) and that there is a total of two priests at the parish. The shorthand
3/4 means that the priest is listed third on a four-priest roster. See our sample
page from the Directory.
Note: The Official Catholic Directory aims to report
the whereabouts of Catholic priests in the United States on January 1 of the
Directory's publication year. Our working assumption is that a priest
listed in the Directory for a given year was at the same assignment
for part of the previous year as well. However, Kenedy and Sons will sometimes
accept updates well into the year of publication. Diocesan clergy records are
rarely available to correct this information. The Directory is also
sometimes misleading or wrong. We have tried to create an accurate assignment
record, given the source materials and their limitations. Assignment records
are a work in progress and we are always improving the records that we post.
Please email us
with new information and corrections.
This assignment record collates Owino's career history as it is represented
in the Official Catholic Directory with allegations as reported in the
media. We make no representation regarding the truth of the allegation we report,
and we remind our readers that the U.S. legal system presumes that a person
accused of or charged with a crime is innocent until proven guilty. Similarly,
individuals who may be defendants in civil actions are presumed not to be liable
for such claims unless a plaintiff proves otherwise. Admissions of guilt or
liability are not typically a part of civil or private settlements. For more
information, see our posting
policy.
This assignment record was last updated on February 24. 2021.