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Anthony Odiong is accused of sexual assault by at least eight women whom the priest had been counseling

The criminal case that authorities are building against a Roman Catholic priest accused of preying on women whom he met while working in south-east Louisiana and Texas is progressing, with a grand jury in the latter state indicting him on three felony sexual assault charges.

Anthony Odiong, 55, faces two counts of second-degree sexual assault as well as one of first-degree sexual assault in the charges handed up against him recently in the McLennan county, Texas, state court.

The charges against Odiong – who was first arrested in July – involve two women. He could receive up to life imprisonment if convicted of the first-degree charge, a stiffer penalty that stems from the fact that the alleged victim in the case was a woman whom Odiong was prohibited from “marrying or purporting to marry” under Texas law. The second-degree counts each carry up to 20 years in prison in what is one of only about a dozen states with a law that criminalizes sexual activity between clergymen and adults who emotionally depend on their spiritual advice.

    • Optional@lemmy.world
      4·
      2 months ago

      Well . . . there’s a . . . special . . uh, clause . . no, an . . uh . . “X factor” if you will. A “suprise element” to the law. An . . . extra layer, say, of jurisprudence in this case that the AG’s office of the very not-impeached-for-corruption Ken Paxton has elected to enforce, as they say in court filings, “with prejudice”.

      Now, should there be . . . other? . . . Catholic priests who are - let’s say, hypothetically, just for the sake of argument here - who are perhaps under investigation for the same or worse crimes - well, now. That would all depend wouldn’t it. In Texas. Or, possibly Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Florida, South Carolina, Tennessee, Kentucky or . . .“Other”.