A priest of the Diocese of Uyo, Nigeria, who ministered in the United States was convicted in a Texas courtroom of three counts of sexual assault of adult women.
Father Anthony Odiong, who was arrested in Florida in 2024 for child pornography, also “fathered at least one child with another woman in Louisiana who had been under his spiritual direction,” according to the prosecution’s DNA evidence.
The case “highlights the Catholic Church’s ongoing challenges in addressing clergy sexual predation of adults in situations where they are vulnerable, particularly in relationships of pastoral care or spiritual guidance, while states such as Texas and Georgia have passed laws to criminalize such acts,” noted Gina Christian of OSV News.