PRIEST FACES TRIAL TIDAL WAVE
A Roman Catholic priest with ties to Texas and south-east Louisiana and criminally charged with abusing his position as a clergyman to pursue sex with three spiritually vulnerable female congregants faces being taken to trial on all of those cases at once.
The Texas district attorney’s office prosecuting Anthony Odiong filed a motion seeking to consolidate the three cases in late March, ahead of a trial date that the Guardian understands has tentatively been set for 4 May. Prepared by McLennan county first assistant district attorney Ryan Calvert, the motion notes that Texas state law allows “a defendant [to] be prosecuted in a single criminal action” if the crimes alleged “are connected or … are the repeated commission of the same or similar offenses”.
And Calvert’s motion maintains that each of the three cases pending against Odiong involves his “exploiting his parishioners’ emotional dependency upon him as a spiritual adviser and engaging in sexual conduct with them”, conduct which Texas law classifies as a felony.
Subscribe
Today’s Birthday
-
Chester Burton "Chet" Atkins, Mister Guitar (1924)June 20, 2026
Atkins got his first guitar by making a trade with his brother, and it was arguably the best deal he ever made. Although he struggled with shyness and suffered from severe asthma—he had to sleep sitting up and often fell asleep still holding his guitar—he became an accomplished guitarist and went on to release several hit records, develop a signature line of guitars, and help create country music's "Nashville sound." What did "Mr. Guitar," as he came to be known, trade to get that first guitar?
Atkins got his first guitar by making a trade with his brother, and it was arguably the best deal he ever made. Although he struggled with shyness and suffered from severe asthma—he had to sleep sitting up and often fell asleep still holding his guitar—he became an accomplished guitarist and went on to release several hit records, develop a signature line of guitars, and help create country music's "Nashville sound." What did "Mr. Guitar," as he came to be known, trade to get that first guitar?Today’s Holiday
-
West Virginia DayJune 20, 2026
West Virginia Day is a state holiday in West Virginia to celebrate its joining the Union in 1863 as the 35th state. The creation of the state was a result of the Civil War. The settlers of western Virginia defied the state's vote to secede from the Union, and on June 20 West Virginia formally entered the Union as an anti-slave state. The day is marked with ceremonies at the state capitol in Charleston and at the West Virginia Independence Hall in Wheeling. It was there that the conventions were held to declare West Virginia's independence from Virginia.
West Virginia Day is a state holiday in ARTICLE OF THE DAY
-
Black TeaJune 20, 2026
Excluding water, tea is the most widely consumed drink on the planet, drunk either hot or cold by half the world's population. The vast majority of tea sold in the West is black tea, made from fermented leaves of the Camellia sinensis plant. Generally stronger in flavor and more caffeinated than the green and oolong varieties, black tea retains its flavor for several years and has long been an article of trade, serving as a form of currency into the 19th century in what countries?
Excluding water, tea is the most widely consumed drink on the planet, drunk either hot or cold by half the world's population. The vast majority of tea sold in the West is black tea, made from fermented leaves of the Camellia sinensis plant. Generally stronger in flavor and more caffeinated than the green and oolong varieties, black tea retains its flavor for several years and has long been an article of trade, serving as a form of currency into the 19th century in what countries?
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.