A Catholic priest, currently under investigation for sexual misconduct with multiple women, has now been charged with the illegal possession of child abuse imagery involving girls. This has led to him being prohibited from ministering in two states.
Anthony Odiong was apprehended on Tuesday while exiting his residence in Ave Maria, Florida. He was taken into custody based on a warrant issued by the authorities in Waco, Texas. The charges against him involve the possession of explicit images depicting unclothed children.
Based on statements in support of the arrest warrant obtained by the Guardian, police have revealed that they found inappropriate pictures during an investigation into complaints from multiple women. These complaints raised concerns about Odiong, 55, potentially being a serial sexual assault suspect.
According to the Waco police statements, certain complaints made by the women are no longer eligible for prosecution due to statutes of limitation. However, the police have made it clear that in Texas, statutes of limitation are not a factor when there is “probable cause to believe that the defendant has committed the same or similar sex offense against five or more victims.”
That information was disclosed almost two months after the suspension of the prominent priest by Louisiana’s main diocese. Several women, including two at Baylor University in Waco, have come forward with complaints against Odiong. They have accused him of using his position as a priest to engage in unwanted sexual contact without their consent.
Authorities later obtained legal authorization to access an email account owned by Odiong. Within the account, they discovered messages from an individual who had not previously come forward. These messages provided explicit details of sexual encounters with the priest, including one incident that resulted in injury.
Investigators later interviewed the woman, who voluntarily confessed to having encountered Odiong in similar circumstances and experiencing some of the same behavior as his previous accusers, as stated in the police’s sworn statements.
After that, a judge granted permission for the police to search Odiong’s iCloud online data storage account. According to Waco police detective Bradley DeLange’s testimony, he found images of a child who appeared to be prepubescent on the account in September 2020.