← Explore all cases
Conviction Buddhist institutions and contexts Buddhist institutions and lineages Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam · 2025
Vietnam: self-styled 'living Buddha' convicted of raping women he treated as disciples
Record class
Core record
Evidence status
Convicted
Authority role
self-styled 'living Buddha' and spiritual healer
Organization
No organization assigned
Spiritual nexus
The complainants were his self-identified disciples who submitted to his claimed healing authority, having been told the sexual contact was the 'energy transmission' treatment he had prescribed for them.
- Spiritual healing or treatment
- Guru or spiritual-teacher authority
- Threatened spiritual consequence
Evidence structure
Proceedings
2025-09-24 · conviction and sentence
Region 7 District Court, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. Nguyễn Ngọc Hải was sentenced to eight years' imprisonment for rape after confessing to assaulting seven women. He had claimed to be a 'living Buddha' able to heal through energy transmission and summoned female disciples to hotels and private homes for sexual acts he presented as spiritual treatment.
Documented coercion mechanisms
- sexual acts framed as necessary 'energy transmission' healing
- claimed capacity to heal through spiritual power
Primary record
Sources
- national newspaper court reporting verdict and sentencing report 'Người làm nghề bấm huyệt bị phạt 8 năm tù vì tội cưỡng dâm', Tuổi Trẻ, 24 Sept. 2025.
Vietnamese court reporting on the eight-year sentence and the healing pretext used to obtain compliance.
Related record
Related cases · Buddhist institutions and contexts
- 2018 · Si Sa Ket, Thailand Wirapol Sukphol (ex-monk): 16 years, rape of a 13-year-old
- 2019 · Halifax, Canada Shambhala-commissioned investigation finds two sexual-misconduct allegations against Sakyong Mipham credible
- 2018 · London, UK Rigpa-commissioned investigation upholds serious allegations against Sogyal Rinpoche
- 2016 · Pattharkot, Sarlahi District, Nepal Ram Bahadur Bomjon: Supreme Court appeal pending after High Court acquittal
- 1997 · Dharamsala, Himachal Pradesh, India Dharamsala triple murder: two Dorje Shugden-associated suspects charged but never tried
- 2020 · Brussels and Liège, Belgium Robert Spatz: final five-year suspended sentence for abuse and exploitation within OKC
- 2026 · Uduwila, Elpitiya, Sri Lanka Uduwila Sujatha: Court of Appeal affirms ten-year sentence for abuse of a child preparing for ordination
- 2016 · Siem Reap, Cambodia Vong Chet: former pagoda chief sentenced for sexual abuse of novice monks in residential care
- 1989 · Boulder, Colorado, USA Ösel Tendzin (Vajra Regent): knowing HIV transmission to students within Vajradhatu
- 2020 · Dharamshala, Himachal Pradesh, India Dagri Rinpoche: commissioned investigation finds a pattern of sexual misconduct; barred by FPMT
- 2023 · Wappingers Falls, New York, USA Lama Norlha Rinpoche / Kagyu Thubten Choling: sangha disclosure and federal abuse lawsuit
- 2015 · Thailand Thailand: Buddhist monk convicted as ringleader of a temple-based trafficking ring targeting novice boys
- 2026 · Galenbindunuwewa, North Central Province, Sri Lanka Sri Lanka: temple chief incumbent sentenced to 24 years for abusing a boy in his care
- 2013 · Los Angeles and Mount Baldy, California, USA Rinzai-ji investigation finds Zen master Joshu Sasaki coerced students over four decades
- 2025 · Seoul, South Korea South Korea: Jin-Gak Order and official convicted after retaliation against a monk's accuser
- 2026 · Thambuttegama, Anuradhapura, Sri Lanka Sri Lanka: chief monk sentenced to 30 years for abusing a boy who came to be ordained
- 2024 · Chalnakhel, Dakshinkali, Nepal Nepal: self-styled tulku convicted of raping a woman held at his monastery for over nine years
- 2024 · Tōgane, Chiba, Japan Japan: temple abbot convicted after court finds he exploited a disciple's 'absolute obedience'
- 2014 · Taichung, Taiwan Taiwan: temple founder convicted of coercing disciples into sex under a 'dual cultivation' doctrine
- 2020 · Cần Thơ, Vietnam Vietnam: pagoda abbot sentenced to six years for raping a fourteen-year-old
- 2025 · Chợ Mới, An Giang, Vietnam Vietnam: former deputy abbot convicted of abusing four child temple volunteers
- 2018 · La Boulaye, Saône-et-Loire, France France: lama at the Temple of a Thousand Buddhas sentenced to 12 years for raping disciples and their children
- 2015 · Jangseong, South Jeolla, South Korea South Korea: abbot convicted of raping the girl he raised at his temple as a child monastic
- 2021 · Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada Canada: head monk of a Winnipeg Lao temple convicted of sexual interference against two girls
- 2018 · Na Duang, Loei, Thailand Thailand: former abbot convicted of raping a woman lured with an 'exorcism' ritual
- 2015 · Zhuhai, Guangdong, China China: 'Huazang Dharma' leader given life imprisonment — a conviction rights groups call retaliation
- 2021 · Shenzhen, Guangdong, China China: man posing as a reincarnated lama convicted of raping and defrauding followers
- 2019 · Deyang, Sichuan, China China: fake monk given a suspended death sentence for rapes under exorcism and luck-changing rituals
- 2005 · Pomona, California, USA United States: Buddhist monk's rape conviction and the temple's civil liability for enabling access to victims
- 2026 · Sathon district, Bangkok, Thailand Thailand: two Bangkok monks charged with raping and filming at least seven novices after luring them with phones, cash and alcohol
- 2025 · Bueng Kan Province, Thailand Thailand: monk surrenders to police after abusing four novices for seven months and attempting to buy their families' silence
- 2026 · Ban Phru subdistrict, Hat Yai district, Songkhla Province, Thailand Thailand: temple emptied of monks and novices as police investigate an abbot after four novices report repeated sexual abuse
- 2026 · Yan Nawa, Sathorn, Bangkok, Thailand Thailand: two monks arrested for raping novices lured with mobile-game access at Wat Charoen Krung
- 2019 · Ban Phaeo, Samut Sakhon, Thailand Thailand: abbot of Wat Pa Suwatthanaram charged with abusing ten novices and a temple boy
- 2026 · Colombo / Anuradhapura, Sri Lanka Sri Lanka: chief incumbent of Atmasthan temple network charged with sexual assault of a minor