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	Convicted Swami Vanishes from Case By Roy Bragg San Antonio Express-News March 8, 2011 http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/local_news/article/Convicted-swami-vanishes-from-case-1047119.php SAN MARCOS — An 82-year-old swami convicted last week on 20 counts of molesting young girls in his ashram was ordered arrested Monday after he failed to show up for the punishment phase of his trial. About 90 minutes after the 9 a.m. start, District Judge Charles Ramsay revoked Prakashanand Saraswati's $1 million bond and issued an arrest warrant, ordering deputies to find the swami and haul him in. "He had appeared for every court hearing," a surprised District Attorney Sherri Tibbe said after Monday's hearing, "so that didn't appear to be an issue." But there had been concerns in previous months that he was a flight risk, she said. At various times during pretrial hearings, Saraswati's passport was confiscated, returned and confiscated again over the course of the case. He remained free during those hearings on a $10 million bond posted by a wealthy follower. After Friday's verdict, Saraswati was freed after posting another $1 million bond. Even his attorney was stumped about the convicted man's absence. Saraswati was last seen in Central Austin on Saturday night, witnesses told authorities. "We haven't located our client," Jeff Kearney told Ramsay. "We don't know the reason for his absence. We don't know if he's lying in a ditch somewhere." Saraswati is known as Shree Swamiji to his followers. His faith-based group, called JKP Barsana Dham, was created in 1990 and sits on 200 acres near the Austin-area village of Driftwood. Fifty full-time residents live on the facility's grounds, according to the Barsana Dham website. Several followers — wearing the orange-yellow robes of temple members — sat in the courtroom gallery Monday. The only testimony, which was given outside of the presence of the eight-man, four-woman jury, was about the missing defendant. So far, Hays County Sheriff's Lt. Jeri Skrocki-Carpenter testified, officials have found no sign of the ailing Saraswati. Deputies checked with hospitals in Travis, Hays and Comal counties, she said, and pored over missing persons' reports, tapes of 911 calls and ambulance runs in each county. A car that had been used to ferry him to and from the San Marcos hotel where Saraswati stayed overnight during testimony, the deputy testified, was found Monday parked at the hotel. Deputies asked ashram members for Saraswati's cell phone number, Skrocki-Carpenter testified, hoping to use the built-in GPS beacon to find him. As of Monday afternoon's hearing, however, that information had not been provided. Kearney said he believed his client's health was the likely culprit behind Saraswati's absence. "He's very ill," Kearney said. "This is an 82-year-old man with severe health issues." Ramsay has allowed the frail Saraswati, diagnosed with back problems, to sit in a specially designed recliner chair during testimony. During two weeks of trial, prosecutors convinced jurors that Saraswati groped two teenage girls in 1993 and 1994. Both girls, according to testimony reported in the Austin American-Statesman, lived with their families in the ashram. Now adults, both live out of state, the paper reported. The 20 charges represent 10 counts of indecency with a child for each victim. Contact: rbragg@express-news.net
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