Church leaders in New Orleans extended the pastoral assignment of a priest accused by multiple women of sexual misconduct, even after learning of the allegations and conducting conversations with victims. The decision to keep Anthony Odiong in ministry for years beyond what was supposed to be a temporary three-year posting has now drawn scrutiny following his conviction on sexual assault charges.
Odiong was sentenced to life in prison in June after a Waco, Texas jury found him guilty of first- and second-degree sexual assault. Internal Catholic Church documents reviewed after his conviction reveal that New Orleans archdiocese officials extended his tenure at St Anthony of Padua church in Luling, Louisiana, three times despite mounting complaints about his behavior toward female congregants.
Odiong arrived at St Anthony in 2015 under a three-year contract. In 2018, as that initial term neared its end, church superiors extended his stay by another three years. Then in 2021, even after speaking directly with a woman who accused him of a years-long abusive sexual relationship, they granted him a six-year extension that would have kept him in place until 2027.
Archbishop Gregory Aymond praised Odiong in a letter accompanying the 2021 extension, writing that he had "served with fidelity and dedication" and thanking him for "the faithful way in which you continue to carry out the ministry of Jesus Christ today." At that time, Odiong was at least the fifth female congregant known to have made misconduct allegations against him.
The chain of events documented in over 200 pages of internal church records shows that the Austin, Texas diocese had informed New Orleans officials in September 2018 about a series of misconduct complaints dating back to Odiong's time in Texas from 2006 to 2012. Yet New Orleans leaders not only kept him in place but also represented to other dioceses that he was "a person of good moral character and reputation."
Odiong only faced removal from ministry in New Orleans when he made derogatory remarks about LGBTQ+ people from the pulpit, months before his arrest by Texas authorities. Church officials later stated they would have taken different action had they understood the "extent and predatory pattern" of his behavior.
The Texas Complaints and Early Warning Signs
While serving at St Mary's Church of the Assumption in West, Texas, and at the St Peter Catholic Student Center at Baylor University from 2006 onward, Odiong cultivated a charismatic public persona that drew admiration from parishioners. Yet internal diocesan records document disturbing conduct that emerged within two years of his full-time assignment to St Peter in 2008.
In 2010, a woman who worked at St Peter reported that Odiong had bitten her ear while hugging her on a sofa and had lifted her by her bottom, holding her in that position for an extended time. When confronted, Odiong acknowledged the hugging but claimed he did not intend it to be offensive and denied biting her ear or receiving any complaint from her at the time.
The following year, a Baylor student accused Odiong of speaking to her in suggestive ways, including compliments such as "you're hot, you look pretty," and of placing his hand on her knee and thigh during a private conversation. She also described uncomfortable, prolonged hugs. Odiong denied the allegations and claimed not to remember making such remarks.
That same year, a more serious complaint emerged. A teenage boy told diocesan officials that he had found his mother, a Baylor employee, and Odiong engaged in sexual activity in her bedroom after a family party. The boy later retracted the complaint, fearing it could cost his mother her job under Baylor's conduct policies and destabilize his family following his parents' divorce.
The Austin diocese concluded the retracted complaint was false but noted that Odiong's conduct had been "highly imprudent" in being alone with the woman in her home late at night in a bedroom. Odiong departed the Austin diocese in 2012 and spent the next three years studying at the Pontifical University of St Thomas Aquinas in Rome before requesting assignment to New Orleans.
When Aymond received Odiong's request in October 2014, the archbishop approved a three-year pastoral assignment. Aymond asked Odiong to obtain a letter of good standing from his home diocese in Uyo, Nigeria. The bishop there, John Ebebe Ayah, provided the letter and expressed gratitude for Aymond accepting Odiong into the archdiocese.
At St Anthony of Padua, Odiong rapidly gained popularity. He held prayer services that attendees credited with bringing healing, and he raised approximately $600,000 to build a chapel honoring the Virgin Mary. Parishioners wrote to the archdiocese expressing their devotion, describing him as the "blood that quite honestly keeps us going." Aymond himself visited and noted that congregants insisted Odiong could not leave them.
The Austin diocese statement released after Odiong's conviction denied having concealed information, noting that it had provided a letter to New Orleans and publicly addressed the matter after suspending Odiong from ministry. The New Orleans archdiocese, in its statement, expressed regret and stated that had leadership "known of the extent and predatory pattern" of his behaviors, "certainly different actions would have been taken."
Church officials indicated that they did not pursue removal under clergy abuse policies because Odiong's accusers were not minors, and they did not classify the women as vulnerable adults meeting strict criteria involving severe intellectual, developmental, or psychological disabilities.
Author James Rodriguez: "The documents paint a clear picture of institutional reluctance to act on credible reports from adult women, even as the pattern of behavior grew more obvious with each extension."
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