Originally published at The Crux
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The sex crimes trial of a disgraced Catholic priest in Texas resulted in a guilty verdict Friday.
The jury of eight women and four men returned the verdict against 57-year-old Father Anthony Odiong following three days of testimony.
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The jury deliberated only about two hours before reaching the verdict.
In Texas, it is a felony for clergy or others with roles of pastoral, spiritual, or counseling authority to exploit their position in obtaining another person’s participation in a sex act.
Odiong was arrested in 2024 on child pornography charges stemming from images uncovered during the Waco police investigation into allegations from multiple women.
Several more victims came forward after Odiong’s arrest to allege the priest used his position to manipulate and sexually assault them.
Many of the allegations against Odiong date back several years and some of them come from women in Louisiana, but prosecutors avoided the statute of limitations by using the allegations to show a pattern of behavior suggesting Odiong was a serial offender.
The trial originally focused on the allegations of three women, but prosecutors dismissed charges stemming from one of the alleged victims
