Conviction Buddhist institutions and contexts Buddhist institutions and lineages Jangseong, South Jeolla, South Korea · 2015

South Korea: abbot convicted of raping the girl he raised at his temple as a child monastic

Record class

Core record

Evidence status

Convicted

Authority role

abbot of a Jangseong temple; adoptive guardian in the dongjaseung (child-monastic) tradition

Organization

No organization assigned

Spiritual nexus

The dongjaseung custom placed the child wholly in the abbot's religious custody — guardian, teacher and abbot in one office; the court rejected the consent claim against exactly that dependency.

Guru or spiritual-teacher authority
Institutional obedience or isolation

Evidence structure

Proceedings

2015-10-01 · conviction and sentence

Gwangju District Court (Criminal Division 11), South Korea. A 63-year-old abbot of a temple in Jangseong, South Jeolla, who had taken in a girl as a dongjaseung — a child monastic raised at the temple from about age five — was convicted in October 2015 of repeatedly raping her from about age thirteen. The court rejected his claim of consent and sentenced him to six years' imprisonment with a mandated sex-offender programme.

Documented coercion mechanisms

total monastic custody of a girl raised at the temple from around age five

Primary record

Sources

national newspaper court reporting verdict and sentencing report Jeonnam Ilbo court report, Oct. 2015.: Regional paper of record's report of the conviction and sentence.
national newspaper court reporting verdict report Kookmin Ilbo report.: National-daily corroboration.

Related record

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