Conviction Christian institutions & contexts Catholic Luling and Waco, Texas, USA · 2026

United States: priest Anthony Odiong given life for sexually assaulting women under his spiritual direction

Record class

Core record

Evidence status

Convicted

Authority role

parish priest, spiritual director

Organization

Diocese of Uyo, Nigeria (incardinating diocese), unnamed Texas parishes

Spiritual nexus

Odiong, a priest of the Diocese of Uyo, Nigeria who served in Texas parishes, offered to become a woman's spiritual adviser after seeing her weep during Mass; she testified she entered spiritual direction under him before the relationship was sexualized. A second victim's pastoral-care relationship with Odiong resulted in a child whose paternity DNA evidence confirmed at trial.

Pastoral or clerical authority
Threatened spiritual consequence

Evidence structure

Proceedings

2026-06-02 · jury conviction and sentence

District Court, Texas (Waco-area). Convicted May 29, 2026 on one first-degree and two second-degree counts of sexual assault; sentenced June 2, 2026 to life imprisonment plus two consecutive 20-year terms and $30,000 in fines.

Documented coercion mechanisms

self-appointment as spiritual director after a parishioner's public distress at Mass
framing of the relationship as spiritual direction and pastoral care
use of confession-adjacent one-on-one spiritual counsel to isolate victims

Primary record

Sources

national religious press criminal disposition and nexus National Catholic Reporter, 'Priest gets life in prison in Texas for sexual abuse of women under his spiritual care' (June 2026).: Reports the jury conviction, life sentence, two consecutive 20-year terms, $30,000 fine, and the spiritual-direction origin of the relationship including the weeping-at-Mass detail.
local court reporting corroboration KWTX, '"A sexual predator wearing a priest collar": Anthony Odiong gets life in prison for sexual assaults of parishioner' (June 1, 2026).: Local television court reporting corroborating the life sentence and the spiritual-care relationship with the parishioner victims.
national religious press corroboration OSV News, 'Catholic priest found guilty of sexually abusing women under his spiritual care in Texas' (May 2026).: Confirms the May 29, 2026 jury verdict and describes the spiritual-direction relationship as the mechanism, plus DNA paternity evidence tying Odiong to a child born to one victim.

Related record

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