A Nigerian Catholic priest has been indicted in Texas on felony s*xual assault charges following multiple allegations of s*xual and financial abuse, according to court documents and investigators, as reported by The New York Times on September 15, 2024.
Father Odiong was indicted by a grand jury in McLennan County, Texas, on two counts of second-degree s*xual assault and one count of first-degree s*xual assault. He was arrested in July in Ave Maria, Florida, after investigators discovered child pornography while probing s*xual assault claims, according to the Waco Police Department.
Although he has not been charged with possession of child pornography, authorities said he could face future charges related to it.
The police had been investigating Odiong for months, having received “credible information” regarding a 2012 s*xual assault.
During the investigation, Detective Bradley DeLange uncovered similar allegations from multiple women, bringing the total number of victims to at least eight. These women accused the priest of groping, s*xual assault, and financial exploitation. One of the women had sought Father Odiong’s counsel for marital issues.
Under Texas law, it is considered s*xual assault for clergy members to engage in s*xual activity with individuals who depend on them emotionally for spiritual guidance.
Father Odiong served at St. Peter Catholic Student Center in Waco, Texas, and St. Mary’s Church of the Assumption in West, Texas, from 2007 to 2012. He also worked in Luling, Louisiana, from 2015 to 2023.
He is currently being held in McLennan County Jail on a $2.5 million bond and faces up to 20 years in prison for the second-degree s*xual assault charges, and possibly life imprisonment for the first-degree felony charge. Christopher King, a lawyer representing several victims in a separate civil case, confirmed the potential penalties.
Odiong has denied the allegations, calling them a “false, salacious, and one-sided smear campaign” in an April Facebook post.
Archbishop Gregory Aymond, who oversaw Father Odiong during his early years in the Diocese of Austin, Texas, now heads the Archdiocese of New Orleans, where Odiong served in recent years. Bishop Joe S. Vásquez, the current leader of the Diocese of Austin, expressed the diocese’s commitment to cooperating fully with law enforcement.
Sarah McDonald, a spokeswoman for the Archdiocese of New Orleans, said Odiong had been serving there at the request of the Diocese of Uyo in Nigeria. She confirmed that the archdiocese reported him to law enforcement and removed him from ministry when the criminal allegations surfaced.
