US jury finds Nigerian priest guilty of sexual assault

A Nigerian Catholic priest, Anthony Odiong, has been convicted in the United States for sexually assaulting women who sought his spiritual guidance. According to The Guardian, a Texas jury comprising eight women and four men found Odiong guilty on a two-count charge of sexual assault following a trial that examined allegations of abuse against the […]

A Nigerian Catholic priest, Anthony Odiong, has been convicted in the United States for sexually assaulting women who sought his spiritual guidance.

According to The Guardian, a Texas jury comprising eight women and four men found Odiong guilty on a two-count charge of sexual assault following a trial that examined allegations of abuse against the cleric.

Odiong, a priest of the Diocese of Uyo in Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria, faces the possibility of life imprisonment on the first-degree charge, while the second-degree charge carries a potential sentence of up to 20 years in prison.

The conviction follows his arrest in 2024 after several women accused him of sexual coercion, unwanted sexual contact and abusive financial control during his ministry in Waco, Texas, and Luling, a suburb of New Orleans in Louisiana.

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Following an investigation, a Texas grand jury indicted the priest on sexual assault-related charges.

Prosecutors told the court that Odiong exploited his position as a spiritual adviser by targeting women who were experiencing personal crises and emotional difficulties.

According to evidence presented during the trial, investigators found that the cleric engaged in sexual intercourse with at least one of the women who sought his counsel.

Another woman alleged that Odiong encouraged her, while she was in an abusive relationship, to permit her then-husband to sodomise her and later urged her to recount the experience to him.

One of the complainants, identified in court documents as Mary Doe, testified that she entered into a sexual relationship with Odiong after he began providing her with spiritual direction during a difficult divorce that left her with custody of seven children.

Mary Doe told the court that one of her sons walked in on her and the priest having sex in her bedroom after a family gathering. The child also testified during the proceedings.

Jurors further heard evidence from Waco police investigators, including DNA findings which allegedly established that Odiong fathered a child in 2023 with another woman identified by the pseudonym Presley Jones.

Investigators said Odiong was providing spiritual guidance to the woman at the time while serving as pastor of St. Anthony of Padua Church in Luling, Louisiana.

The conviction marks the latest development in a case that drew significant attention following allegations that the priest used his religious position to exploit vulnerable women seeking spiritual support.