Documentary record Bound by Fear
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Conviction Christian institutions & contexts Catholic Oecusse, Timor-Leste · 2021

Timor-Leste: American ex-priest convicted of abusing girls at the orphanage he ran

Record class

Core record

Evidence status

Convicted

Authority role

Catholic priest, founder and director of an orphanage

Organization

Topu Honis shelter, Oecusse

Spiritual nexus

The victims were orphaned girls resident in a shelter founded and directed by a priest — his religious office and custodial control were one and the same authority.

  • Pastoral or clerical authority
  • Institutional obedience or isolation

Evidence structure

Proceedings

  1. 2021-12-21 · conviction and sentence; appeal rejected

    Oecusse court, Timor-Leste. Richard Daschbach, an American ex-priest who ran the Topu Honis orphanage in the Oecusse enclave from 1992, was convicted on five counts of sexual abuse of minors in his care and sentenced to twelve years (individual counts totalling over 37 years, legally accumulated to a single term). A Timorese court rejected his appeal. It was the first clergy sexual-abuse case to reach trial in Timor-Leste.

Appellate history

  1. 2022 · undefined

    undefined

Documented coercion mechanisms

  • total custodial and spiritual authority over resident orphaned girls

Primary record

Sources

national newspaper court reporting verdict and sentencing report 'Ex-padre condenado a 12 anos de prisão por abuso de menores em Timor-Leste', Público, 21 Dec. 2021.

Portugal's paper of record reporting the conviction, the accumulated sentence, and the case's landmark status.

Related record

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