The sex crimes trial of a disgraced Catholic priest in Texas resulted in a guilty verdict Friday.
The jury of eight women and four men returned the verdict against 57-year-old Father Anthony Odiong following three days of testimony.
RELATED: Questions abound as sex crimes trial looms for priest in Texas
The jury deliberated only about two hours before reaching the verdict.
In Texas, it is a felony for clergy or others with roles of pastoral, spiritual, or counseling authority to exploit their position in obtaining another person’s participation in a sex act.
Odiong was arrested in 2024 on child pornography charges stemming from images uncovered during the Waco police investigation into allegations from multiple women.
Several more victims came forward after Odiong’s arrest to allege the priest used his position to manipulate and sexually assault them.
Many of the allegations against Odiong date back several years and some of them come from women in Louisiana, but prosecutors avoided the statute of limitations by using the allegations to show a pattern of behavior suggesting Odiong was a serial offender.
The trial originally focused on the allegations of three women, but prosecutors dismissed charges stemming from one of the alleged victims after she failed to appear.
That left one count of sexual assault in the first degree and two counts of second-degree sexual assault pending against the priest.
“His weapon was faith,” prosecutor Ryan Calvert told jurors in closing arguments Friday.
Twelve jurors agreed.
Church management in focus
Evidence presented at trial raises questions about the way Church officials handled complaints against Odiong and regarding what the Church did – or did not do – to protect the faithful from a cleric against whom they had serious complaints.
Odiong served in Austin, TX, from 2006 to 2012, and then served in New Orleans from 2015 to 2023, when investigative reporting from The Guardian began bringing allegations of serious misconduct before the public.
The bishop who invited Odiong to minister in Austin was Gregory Aymond, who eventually became the Archbishop of New Orleans and also welcomed Odiong there, even making him pastor of a parish and giving him other roles.
In 2019, the Diocese of Austin informed New Orleans of complaints against Odiong, but New Orleans left Odiong in ministry until 2023.
During the trial, it emerged that Odiong had fathered a child with a Louisiana woman in 2023.
It also emerged that Austin had heard serious complaints against Odiong in early 2011 but allowed him to stay in ministry until the middle of 2012 and did not warn the faithful of Austin at the time, and Odiong continued to visit Austin fairly regularly for several years.
The work of Ramon Vargas at The Guardian eventually played a significant role in Odiong’s arrest.
Crux Now began a review of the case earlier this year, in the run-up to the trial that ended Friday in conviction, looking closely at the conduct of senior prelates and officials in several different major Church jurisdictions.
The Diocese of Austin twice declined to comment, citing the ongoing legal proceedings, but said a statement may come at some point.
“If appropriate,” Austin told Crux Now earlier this week, “considering the rights and privacy of those involved, the diocese will make a final statement to the faithful after any and all legal proceedings related to this matter are concluded.”
New Orleans confirmed for Crux Now that the archdiocese decided against informing faithful because the allegations against Odiong “involved adults.”
“A review of the Archdiocese of New Orleans’s records regarding Anthony Odiong shows that the misconduct reported from Austin involved adults,” the New Orleans archdiocese told Crux Now earlier this month in response to queries that were part of our review.
“At that time,” the New Orleans statement continued, “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.”
Punishment phase
Judge Thomas West, presiding over the trial in the 19th District Court of Texas’s McLennan County in Waco, will hear on the matter of punishment on Monday, with the punishment phase expected to finish on Tuesday.
Odiong has been in McLennan County Jail for nearly two years while awaiting trial, and will likely seek probation, though the priest faces a possible sentence of life in prison on the first-degree charge and up to 20 years on the second-degree charges.
Follow Chris Altieri on X: @craltieri