Jury seated as US trial of Catholic priest accused of sexual assault begins

Anthony Odiong, charged with sexually abusing three female congregants in Texas, could face life sentence

A jury of eight women and four men was seated on Tuesday in the criminal trial of a Roman Catholic priest who ministered in Texas and south-east Louisiana and was charged with illicitly abusing his status as a clergyman to pursue sex with spiritually vulnerable female congregants.

Anthony Odiong, 57, faces five charges of first-degree sexual assault and two such counts in the second degree in Waco, Texas, involving three women whom he met while working there.