A defrocked American priest yesterday was jailed for 12 years for sexually abusing children at an East Timor shelter, in a case that caused sharp divisions in the deeply Catholic nation.
At least 15 women had accused Richard Daschbach, 84, of sexually abusing them when they were children at his shelter in the enclave of Oecusse, with fears that there might be many more victims.
A panel of judges found the former priest guilty of several sex crimes at the shelter, which was founded in the early 1990s, and housed hundreds of orphans and impoverished children.
Photo: AFP
They handed down several sentences totaling 37 years behind bars, but Presiding Judge Yudi Pamungkas said that was reduced considering his age.
Daschbach was under house arrest during the trial and the judges ordered his immediate imprisonment to prevent any escape attempt.
The court also ordered the East Timorese government to pay financial compensation to the victims.
Daschbach moved to East Timor in the mid-1970s and was once widely revered for his charity work in the Southeast Asian nation.
He was defrocked by the Vatican in 2018, but details of the sex abuse allegations were only disclosed the next year when the case was reported by a local news outlet.
Catholic officials in East Timor’s capital, Dili, said this year that Daschbach was dismissed because he had admitted to the “heinous crime,” but Daschbach retained broad support in the Catholic nation, including among some members of the political elite.
Daschbach in August was also indicted in the US for the sexual abuse of minors.
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