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.
These do not seem like laws that would be on the books or enforced in Texas. Quelle surprise.
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”.
commas are real good for this kind of thing