CV NEWS FEED // The Catholic Diocese of Austin, Texas, will collaborate with law enforcement after one of its former priests was arrested on various sex abuse charges, some of which involve minors.
“This news is disturbing and truly sad,” Bishop Joe S. Vásquez of Austin wrote in a diocesan news release after the July 16 arrest in Florida of Fr Anthony Odiong, who served at St Mary, Church of the Assumption, and St Peter Catholic Student Center in Waco from 2007 to 2012, when the diocese dismissed him.
“The Diocese of Austin will fully cooperate with local law enforcement as they investigate these allegations,” the Bishop continued in the release, adding:
As your bishop and spiritual father, express my concern for you as news of this nature can be very difficult to receive. I also express my steadfast commitment to our Ethics and Integrity in Ministry program of the Diocese of Austin by which we seek to end abuse and provide healing to those who have been harmed.
The Bishop implored the faithful to join him in praying for those who have experienced abuse from a servant of the Church.
According to a statement provided to KWTX, the Diocese barred Fr Odiong from priestly ministry within its 25-county jurisdiction in a 2019 letter to the priest.
“This determination was based on complaints that the diocese had received regarding Fr. Odiong’s behavior with adult women, as well as his failure to follow the protocol for visiting clergy to present a testimonial of suitability for ministry from his Bishop,” the Diocese explained in the statement.
The letter was also sent to the Archdiocese of New Orleans, where he was serving at the time, and to Bishop John Ebebe Ayah of Uyo, Nigeria, where Fr Odiong is originally from.
Bishop Ayah formally recalled the priest in a March 2024 written directive.
In March 2024, according to a local report, the Waco Police Department started investigating an alleged 2012 sexual assault. This investigation led to the discovery that there were at least five other victims. After his time in the Texas diocese, Fr Odiong then served in Luling, Louisiana, from 2015 to 2023 at St Anthony of Padua Church.
“In America, a person is innocent until proven guilty,” the disgraced priest wrote in a statement on his Facebook account in April, denying accusations brought against him in light of the investigation.
The report stated that the Florida Caribbean Regional Fugitive Task Force arrested Fr Odiong in Ave Maria, Florida, after police discovered that he had been using his iPhone and iPad to communicate with alleged victims, FOX8 reported
Fr Odiong also possessed several pornographic images of a girl who was estimated to be around 10 years old. Since he possessed the images while he was in McLennan County, Texas, he is currently awaiting extradition to Texas, as police confirmed that he possessed the images while in McLennan County.
The Diocese is asking that anyone with information about Fr Odiong to contact local law enforcement via 254-750-7609, and the Ethics and Integrity in Ministry office.
