A Nigerian-born Catholic priest, Anthony Odiong, has been handed a life prison sentence following his conviction for sexual assault in Texas, United States.
The clergyman was found guilty of exploiting his spiritual influence to engage in sexual relations with members of his congregation.
According to a report by the British newspaper, The Guardian, the 57-year-old was sentenced on Tuesday by a jury at a state courthouse located in Waco.
During the proceedings, several witnesses testified regarding his actions, describing a pattern of sexually inappropriate behavior that allegedly spanned over ten years.
Odiong went into the two-day sentencing phase on Monday knowing he was staring at a penalty ranging from five to 99 years, or potentially life behind bars, after his initial conviction on a first-degree sexual assault charge.
In addition to the primary charge, he was convicted on two separate counts of second-degree sexual assault, with the jury handing down 20-year prison terms for each of those offenses.
The sentences are set to run concurrently, meaning he will become eligible to apply for parole after serving 30 years.
Furthermore, the jury slapped him with a $10,000 fine for each of the three counts.
Following the decision, Odiong’s defense attorney, Gerald Villarial, announced that he plans to file an appeal against the verdict.
The conviction came at the conclusion of a four-day trial, where the jury determined he was guilty of both first- and second-degree sexual assault.
The panel concluded that he unlawfully abused his pastoral authority as a priest to coerce two deeply religious female parishioners into sexual acts, doing so either directly or by proxy.
Before his legal troubles, Odiong spent nearly 17 years in active ministry starting from 2006, serving congregants in Waco and subsequently working as a pastor at a Catholic parish in Luling, a suburb of New Orleans, Louisiana.
