Trial of US priest charged with sexual assault begins with jury selection

The criminal trial of a Roman Catholic priest who ministered in Texas and south-east Louisiana and was charged with illicitly abusing his status as a clergyman to pursue sex with spiritually vulnerable female congregants began on Tuesday with jury selection. Anthony Odiong, 57, faces charges of second-degree sexual assault in a state courthouse in Waco, Texas, involving three women whom he met while working there. He could receive between two and 20 years in prison – as well as a maximum $10,000 fine – if he is convicted on any of those charges at the end of a trial that could last a week or more. The charges against Odiong were effectively prompted by a February 2024 report from the Guardian about women who accused him of sexual coercion, unwanted touching and abusive financial control after meeting him in his capacity as a priest. A woman whom the Guardian did not interview subsequently brought a copy of the outlet’s story on Odiong to Waco police and reported that he had sexually assaulted her in 2012. Investigators subsequently identified as many as 10 women whom Odiong was suspected of sexually preying on after meeting them over the years while ministering in Texas as well as the New Orleans archdiocese. Prosecutors eventually managed to charge Odiong with exploiting three women’s “emotional dependency upon him as a spiritual adviser and engaging in sexual conduct with them” because Texas law classifies that alleged conduct as a felony. …