Priest arrested for child porn held on $2.5 million bond amid fears he may flee the U.S.

Father Anthony Odiong, a former Louisiana priest, was arrested for possession of child pornography in Florida, law enforcement said on July 16, 2024, with the suspect also accused of multiple other instances of sexual abuse. / Credit: The Collier County Sheriff’s Office

CNA Staff, Aug 8, 2024 / 13:26 pm (CNA).

A priest arrested for possession of child pornography and accused of multiple other sex crimes is being held in Texas on a massive bond as police reportedly fear he may flee the United States amid the charges. 

Police arrested Father Anthony Odiong in Florida last month. The Waco Police Department said in a Facebook post that officers arrested Odiong in Ave Maria, Florida, with help from the U.S. Marshals Service. 

Waco police said that in March they had received “credible information” regarding a sexual assault allegedly committed by Odiong in Texas in 2012. During the subsequent investigation, “a case of possession of child pornography was uncovered,” the police said. 

Odiong was extradited to Texas this week to face child porn charges as well as sex abuse charges in McLennan County, which is located in the Diocese of Austin. The 55-year-old priest reportedly waived a challenge to extradition after his Florida arrest. 

The accused clergyman is being held on a $2.5 million bond, according to local Waco news station KWTX. 

Arrest warrants reportedly show that police fear Odiong has “access to immense amounts of money, contacts with money who follow him and provide heavily through financial means, and access to passports and multiple avenues to flee the country.”

Waco police reportedly said in an affidavit that after his arrest Odiong “received phone calls in jail from supporters who told him that regardless of the cost, his release from jail on bail will be facilitated,” the Texas news network said. 

Odiong had previously served in the Archdiocese of New Orleans before being removed from his pastorship in December of last year amid controversy over homilies in which he alleged among other things that the Catholic Church was being taken over by “the gays.”

At that time the priest was also facing allegations of abusive behavior; a Louisiana woman had alleged in U.S. bankruptcy court that Odiong had committed both financial and sexual abuse against her. 

In Texas, meanwhile, nearly 10 women have reportedly come forward with accusations of sexual abuse against Odiong. The alleged assaults allegedly occurred between 2007 and 2023. 

Austin Bishop Joe Vásquez said in a letter to his diocese last month that the allegations against Odiong were “disturbing and truly sad.” 

The diocese “will fully cooperate with local law enforcement as they investigate these allegations,” the bishop said. 

It is unclear, meanwhile, why Odiong was in Florida at the time of his arrest last month. 

The Diocese of Venice in Florida told local news station WBBH last month that Odiong had “no association” with the Florida diocese.

“He has never been granted permission to celebrate Mass within the diocese, nor was he ever given faculties to function as a priest here in any way,” the diocese said, adding that officials were “not aware of Father Odiong’s presence in Ave Maria, Florida” until news broke of his arrest.