A Texas jury took just two hours to convict Roman Catholic priest Anthony Odiong of repeated sexual assault Friday, ending years of institutional silence that allowed him to exploit vulnerable women under the guise of spiritual counsel.
The woman who first came forward publicly, identified in court as Hadassah Doe, released a statement Saturday expressing relief that the jury "saw the truth." She said she "can only hope he is kept from continuing to use faith as his net, his snare and a tool to manipulate current and future victims."
Odiong's conviction in Waco carries a potential sentence of life imprisonment and marks a rare moment of accountability in a case that exposes how church officials in multiple dioceses repeatedly failed to act on abuse allegations spanning more than a decade.
Hadassah Doe met Odiong in 2007 when he was studying for a master's degree in theology. She said he positioned himself as her spiritual counselor while initiating years of sexual abuse, including acts performed during confession and private masses. He coerced her by claiming these acts ensured her salvation. When she refused him, she said he would call her crazy and steal money from her.
She largely cut off contact with Odiong in late 2018 after he transferred to serve as pastor of St. Anthony of Padua church in Luling, Louisiana, near New Orleans. The following year, she reported him to the New Orleans archdiocese abuse hotline and spoke with a local sheriff's detective. Neither the church nor law enforcement took action. The investigator concluded Doe was describing a consensual relationship.
When the New Orleans archdiocese suspended Odiong in December 2023 for clerical misconduct, it sparked a cascade of additional accusations. Hadassah Doe and her attorney, Kristi Schubert, went public through the Guardian and WWL Louisiana with her detailed account.
Odiong's legal team attacked her credibility, calling her allegations "categorically false" and "outlandish." Odiong himself posted on social media that Doe was "a mentally unstable woman."
The public account drew another accuser. A woman known in court as Jane Doe, who met Odiong in Waco in 2010, came forward to confirm Hadassah's story. Jane Doe said Odiong had abused her during spiritual counseling about her marital problems, coercing her into sexual acts under the false claim it would save her marriage.
Jane Doe also revealed that Waco-area church officials had banned Odiong from ministering there by 2019 over prior misconduct allegations and claimed they had privately notified the New Orleans archdiocese of that decision.
A third accuser, called Mary Doe in court proceedings, brought Guardian reporting to Waco police describing a years-long sexual relationship that began in 2008 when Odiong was counseling her through a divorce. The abuse continued until 2011, when her son discovered Odiong and Mary Doe together and reported it to a neighbor. That neighbor told church officials, yet Odiong's career remained largely uninterrupted.
The investigation expanded after authorities established probable cause from multiple accusers. Prosecutors Ryan Calvert and Liz Buice brought charges of first- and second-degree sexual assault connected to Mary Doe and Jane Doe.
At trial, prosecutors also presented evidence that Odiong had fathered a child in 2023 with a congregant he was counseling in Louisiana, illustrating the pattern of abuse through the dating of his conviction.
The jury of eight women and four men deliberated roughly two hours before returning guilty verdicts. Sentencing is scheduled to begin Monday.
Hadassah Doe characterized the prosecution's case as "superb" and "succinct." She is also pursuing a damages claim in the New Orleans archdiocese bankruptcy proceeding. In documents filed under oath, she described the abuse as having "completely ruined my life and self-confidence," and said she endures repeated nightmares of Odiong abusing her.
The New Orleans archdiocese and its insurers agreed in December to pay $305 million to hundreds of abuse survivors as part of the bankruptcy settlement, with payouts expected to begin in the fall.
Author James Rodriguez: "A conviction is overdue justice, but Hadassah Doe's path to this courtroom should never have been necessary, the archdiocese's inaction was inexcusable."
Comments