Texas Jury Convicts Nigerian Priest of Sexual Assault

​WACO, Texas — A Texas jury has found a Nigerian-born Roman Catholic priest guilty of multiple felony counts of sexual assault for using his clerical authority to manipulate and sexually abuse vulnerable adult women under his pastoral care.

​Anthony Odiong, 57, was convicted by a 19th State District Court jury in Waco, Texas, consisting of eight women and four men. The panel deliberated for just two hours following a harrowing four-day trial before returning a unanimous guilty verdict on one count of first-degree sexual assault and two counts of second-degree sexual assault.

​Odiong, who maintained his innocence and pleaded not guilty, now faces a maximum penalty of life imprisonment on the first-degree conviction. The sentencing phase is scheduled to begin on Monday.

​Spiritual Guidance Used as Weapon

​The prosecution’s case centered on Texas laws that classify the sexual exploitation of a congregant’s emotional dependency by a spiritual adviser as a felony. Prosecutors argued that Odiong systematically targeted women navigating periods of intense emotional crisis, overriding their consent through psychological and spiritual coercion.

​During the trial, a victim identified as “Mary Doe” delivered emotional testimony, recounting how she met Odiong in 2008 while reeling from a traumatic divorce and raising seven children under the age of 12. She testified that Odiong, then serving at St. Peter’s Catholic Student Center in Waco, noticed her weeping during Mass, invited her into his office, and subsequently initiated a sexual relationship under the guise of “spiritual direction.”

​The relationship continued for years until 2011, when her then-14-year-old son walked in on them having intercourse at her residence. The son fled to the home of a nearby university administrator to report the incident.

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​A second victim, “Jane Doe,” testified that Odiong similarly coerced her into sexual acts by framing the misconduct as part of her spiritual guidance. A third witness, Lisa Smith, testified that Odiong approached her while she was grieving at her father’s gravesite, later using her mourning to initiate unwanted sexual contact.

​Pattern of Misconduct Uncovered

​The criminal investigation caught momentum following an extensive investigative report published by The Guardian in February 2024, which detailed widespread allegations of sexual coercion, financial control, and grooming against the priest across multiple states. Armed with the report, Mary Doe approached the Waco Police Department, prompting an investigation that uncovered a broader network of victims.

​Under Texas law, establishing a pattern involving five or more victims allowed prosecutors to bypass traditional statutes of limitations, enabling them to try Odiong for offenses dating back more than a decade.

​To substantiate this pattern, prosecutors introduced damning DNA evidence revealing that Odiong had fathered a child in 2023 with a female parishioner, pseudonamed Presley Jones, while serving as the pastor of St. Anthony of Padua church in Luling, Louisiana. Jurors were shown a photograph of Odiong in full clerical vestments holding the infant girl at her baptism alongside her mother. While Louisiana law does not criminalize clergy sexual misconduct with consenting adults, the prosecution successfully utilized the child as “living proof” of his predatory modus operandi.

​Fallout and Erasure

​Ordained in the Diocese of Uyo, Nigeria, in 1993, Odiong later relocated to the United States and became a naturalized U.S. citizen. His ministry in the U.S. spanned the Diocese of Austin, Texas, and the Archdiocese of New Orleans, Louisiana, where he gained notoriety as a charismatic preacher who held healing ministries.

​However, his career was long shadowed by administrative discipline. He was quietly suspended from active ministry in the Austin Diocese by 2019 following early misconduct allegations. He was subsequently removed from his Louisiana parish in late 2023 following inflammatory altar remarks and further internal reports of sexual misconduct.

​In July 2024, federal marshals arrested Odiong in Florida, where he had been living as a fugitive while attempting to establish a new chapel network near Ave Maria University. He had been held in a Texas jail on a $5.5 million bond since his extradition, having rejected a 20-year plea deal offered by prosecutors in late 2024.

​The defense argued throughout the trial that the encounters were entirely consensual, but the jury ultimately rejected the claim, affirming that the power imbalance inherent in pastoral care nullified true consent.

​The fallout from the conviction was immediate. Within hours of the verdict on Friday night, officials at the Our Lady of Guadalupe healing chapel in Luling, Louisiana—a facility Odiong raised $600,000 to build in 2020—had completely obscured his name with black tape, effectively erasing his legacy from the parish he once led.