A jury has been empaneled for the trial, in a Texas criminal court, of a disgraced Catholic priest accused of serial sexual assault against multiple victims.
57-year-old Anthony Odiong is a priest of the Diocese of Uyo in his native Nigeria, who served in the Diocese of Austin from 2006 to 2012 and in the Archdiocese of New Orleans from 2015 to 2023.
Investigative reporting by The Guardian uncovered several women who accused Odiong of using his spiritual authority to manipulate and coerce them into compliance with his sexual demands.
Authorities in Waco, Texas, began investigating the priest and eventually arrested him in July of 2024.
Odiong, who denies wrongdoing, faces five counts of first-degree sexual assault and two counts of sexual assault in the second degree.
As many as ten women came forward after Odiong’s arrest in July 2024 – on a charge of possession of child pornography – alleging he used his position as a priest and spiritual adviser to manipulate and sexually assault them.
Under Texas state law, it is a felony for clergy or others with roles of pastoral or spiritual authority to exploit their position in obtaining another person’s participation in a sex act.
Many of the allegations against Odiong date back several years and some of them come from women in Louisiana, but the statute of limitations does not apply or may be waived in Texas if prosecutors can show a pattern of behavior suggesting the accused is a serial offender.
The prosecution’s case is based on the allegations of three women. In court filings ahead of the jury selection on Tuesday, prosecutors accuse Odiong of “exploiting his parishioners’ emotional dependency upon him as a spiritual adviser and engaging in sexual conduct with them,” according to court filings.
Court filings ahead of the trial also show prosecutors are prepared to introduce evidence showing that Odiong fathered a child with a woman who had been somehow in his spiritual care.
Unanswered questions
A criminal trial is now underway in Waco’s 19th State District Court, with Odiong as defendant, but several questions remain regarding the Church’s handling of complaints against the priest years before he was on the radar of local police.
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When Odiong came to the Diocese of Austin in 2006, it was at the invitation of then-Bishop Gregory Aymond, who later became Archbishop of New Orleans and again invited Odiong to serve under him.
While in the Archdiocese of New Orleans, Odiong was the pastor of St. Anthony of Padua parish in Luling. He was listed as part-time faculty at the archdiocesan seminary.
Odiong was also a prolific fundraiser who brought in $600,000, with which he built a healing chapel – dedicated to Our Lady of Guadalupe – near the parish church of St. Anthony.
The Diocese of Austin, however, had received serious complaints against Odiong no later than 2019. Those complaints were so worrisome that Austin alerted both New Orleans and Odiong’s home diocese of Uyo.
Austin also required Odiong to obtain permission to visit the diocese.
Crux Now asked the Diocese of Austin why those complaints did not cause the diocese to warn the faithful at that time, but the diocesan communications director declined to answer our questions, citing the ongoing criminal proceedings.
New Orleans allowed Odiong to remain in his role as pastor for years after receiving the complaints from Austin in 2019.
“[T]he misconduct reported from Austin involved adults,” New Orleans told Crux Now in response to queries earlier this month, and “archdiocesan officials chose to address the report directly with Odiong.”
“The Archdiocese of New Orleans ultimately removed Odiong from ministry in 2023,” the statement continued.
“At that time,” New Orleans said, “as additional information came to light, the archdiocese made a report to law enforcement who had already investigated the allegation.”
Aymond’s tenure in New Orleans was troubled by serious scandal stemming from the management of abuse cases and was dominated in its later years by archdiocesan bankruptcy proceedings.
When Aymond went to New Orleans in 2009, he was succeeded in Austin by then-Bishop Joe S. Vasquez, who became the Archbishop of Galveston-Houston in 2025.
The selection process on Tuesday involved 100 prospective jurors. 12 were chosen, along with two alternates. The jurors are eight women and four men.
Local KWTX reported that Odiong was dressed in a gray suit and plain white shirt, while the lead prosecuotr refered to the accused as “Mr. Odiong” during the process.
According to the KWTX account, prosecutors were careful during Tuesday’s selection to explain the Texas law making it a crime for clergy or others with similar roles of care to obtain submission to a sex act or participation in a sex act by exploiting the emotional dependency of a person in their care.
KWTX reported that the defense focused strongly on the burden of proof and the standard of certainty in criminal cases, stressing that the prosecution must prove its case beyond reasonable doubt.
If convicted on any of the first-degree charges, Odiong could be sentenced to life in prison.
The second-degree felony charges could carry a two-to-twenty-year prison sentence and a $10,000 fine.
Follow Chris Altieri on X: @craltieri
