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The Guardian - US
The Guardian - US
World
Ramon Antonio Vargas in New Orleans and Steven Monacelli in Waco, Texas

US priest accused of sexual assault turns down 20-year plea deal

a priest speaks
Anthony Odiong delivering a homily in which he refers to members of the LGBTQ+ community as ‘monkeys and animals and chimpanzees’, in November 2023. Photograph: YouTube page of St Anthony of Padua church of Luling, Louisiana

A hearing at which a Roman Catholic priest with ties to Texas and south-east Louisiana was tentatively scheduled to plead guilty to criminal charges of abusing his authority as a clergyman to pursue sex with spiritually vulnerable female congregants was called off, court officers said Monday.

The proceeding in the state criminal courthouse of Waco, Texas, had been tenuously called as Anthony Odiong spent more than a month mulling a plea deal.

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