![Rev. Fr. Anthony Odiong, a US-based Nigerian Louisiana Catholic priest, was arrested in Florida on Tuesday for possessing child pornography, according to law authorities. The suspect is reportedly accused of many other cases of sexual assault. The Waco, Texas, Police Department announced in a Facebook post on Tuesday that officers detained Father Anthony Odiong in Ave Maria, Florida, with assistance from the United States Marshals Service. Waco police announced in March that they had received "credible information" about 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. The priest was apprehended in Florida by the Caribbean Regional Fugitive Task Force. The Waco Police Department said that he will be extradited to Texas. Odiong had previously served in the Archdiocese of New Orleans before being removed as priest in December of last year due to controversy over homilies in which he claimed, among other things, that the Catholic Church was being taken over by "the gays." At the time, the priest was also accused of abusive behaviour; a Louisiana lady claimed in U.S. bankruptcy court that Odiong had committed both financial and sexual abuse against her. Prior to joining the New Orleans Archdiocese, Odiong served in at least two Texas parishes. On Tuesday, Waco police stated that during their sexual assault investigation, "the presence of other survivors was revealed." “Multiple women have come forward to tell similar experiences as the sexual assault survivor who reported the initial allegation,” the police department said. “Survivors’ experiences ranged from sexual assault and indecent assault, more commonly recognised as groping, and financial abuse, with some survivors experiencing every element of Anthony Odiong’s manipulation.” The police said they “believe there may be more survivors, and we wish to speak with anyone who [has] had similar encounters” with the priest. The Archdiocese of New Orleans issued a brief news release on Tuesday noting Odiong's arrest in Florida. The archdiocese “encourages anyone with any information to contact law enforcement,” the release said.](https://chronicle.ng/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/ezgif-6-4730550ede-300x200.jpg "Odiong: US-based Nigerian Catholic priest convicted over sexual assault")
The British Foreign Office has announced that two British nationals, one male and one woman, have been arrested in Iran.
Their arrest was first reported by Iran’s state-run media, which stated that they were in detention in the southeastern city of Kerman on undisclosed security charges.
It did not name them but did post an image of them, their faces blurred, meeting the British ambassador, Hugo Shorter, in the prosecutor’s office in Kerman on Wednesday.
The Foreign Office officially warns against all travel to Iran, stating that British and British-Iranian dual nationals face a “significant risk” of being arrested, questioned, or detained.
“Having a British passport or connections to the UK can be reason enough for the Iranian authorities to detain you,” the advice says.
The meeting between the Britons and the UK ambassador was also attended by Kerman’s prosecutor, Mehdi Bakhshi, and Rahman Jalali, the deputy governor general for security and law enforcement matters, according to state news agency IRNA.
In recent years, Iran has detained dozens of Iranians having dual nationality or foreign permanent residency, primarily on grounds of spying and national security. At least 15 have links to the United Kingdom.
According to human rights organizations, they are frequently detained as bargaining chips and released only when Iran receives something in exchange.
In 2023, Iran executed British-Iranian dual national Alireza Akbari, who had been convicted of spying for the United Kingdom. He contested the charge, claiming he was tortured and made to confess on camera to crimes he did not commit.
Later that year, environmentalist Morad Tahbaz, a dual UK-US-Iranian citizen, was one of five persons released as part of an Iran-US prisoner swap deal that also saw $6 billion (£4.8 billion) in blocked Iranian cash moved from South Korea.
British-Iranian citizens Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe and Anoosheh Ashoori were released in 2022 and permitted to leave Iran after the UK resolved a long-standing £650 million debt with Iran.
![Rev. Fr. Anthony Odiong, a US-based Nigerian Louisiana Catholic priest, was arrested in Florida on Tuesday for possessing child pornography, according to law authorities. The suspect is reportedly accused of many other cases of sexual assault. The Waco, Texas, Police Department announced in a Facebook post on Tuesday that officers detained Father Anthony Odiong in Ave Maria, Florida, with assistance from the United States Marshals Service. Waco police announced in March that they had received "credible information" about 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. The priest was apprehended in Florida by the Caribbean Regional Fugitive Task Force. The Waco Police Department said that he will be extradited to Texas. Odiong had previously served in the Archdiocese of New Orleans before being removed as priest in December of last year due to controversy over homilies in which he claimed, among other things, that the Catholic Church was being taken over by "the gays." At the time, the priest was also accused of abusive behaviour; a Louisiana lady claimed in U.S. bankruptcy court that Odiong had committed both financial and sexual abuse against her. Prior to joining the New Orleans Archdiocese, Odiong served in at least two Texas parishes. On Tuesday, Waco police stated that during their sexual assault investigation, "the presence of other survivors was revealed." “Multiple women have come forward to tell similar experiences as the sexual assault survivor who reported the initial allegation,” the police department said. “Survivors’ experiences ranged from sexual assault and indecent assault, more commonly recognised as groping, and financial abuse, with some survivors experiencing every element of Anthony Odiong’s manipulation.” The police said they “believe there may be more survivors, and we wish to speak with anyone who [has] had similar encounters” with the priest. The Archdiocese of New Orleans issued a brief news release on Tuesday noting Odiong's arrest in Florida. The archdiocese “encourages anyone with any information to contact law enforcement,” the release said.](https://chronicle.ng/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/ezgif-6-4730550ede-450x300.jpg "Odiong: US-based Nigerian Catholic priest convicted over sexual assault")
