LOS ANGELES (CA)
Los Angeles Times
By Hector Becerra, Times Staff Writer
Leaders of the Hare Krishna faith last week began carrying out the terms of a $9.5-million settlement that closes the books on a long-running child abuse scandal.
Under the plan, the International Society of Krishna Consciousness organization has filed for bankruptcy in Los Angeles while it determines how to compensate 535 former students who say they were abused in the 1970s and '80s by adults at boarding schools run by the society.
The settlement covers abuses at Krishna temples and schools across the United States and India that resulted in a 2001 class-action lawsuit.
Some Hare Krishna devotees and gurus, including at least one in Los Angeles, were subsequently convicted of child abuse, and others were barred from visiting temples, said Anuttama Dasa, spokesman for the society.
The Krishnas also closed all the boarding schools in the United States, where much of the abuse allegedly occurred. Last week, the organization began paying off attorneys, accountants and others involved in the case, a first step in eventually making payments to the alleged victims.