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	U.S. Theravada Buddhist Temples Accused of Harboring Pedophile Monk CPIU August 23, 2011 http://www.cpiu.us/u-s-theravada-buddhist-temples-accused-of-harboring-pedophile-monk/2011/08/23/ On Sunday, a group of protesters gathered at the Wat Dhammaram Theravada Buddhist temple, Southwest Side Chicago, after a report that a former monk at the temple, Camong Boa-Ubol, had sexually assaulted two girls, impregnating one of them. According to the report, the family of one of the girls–a 12 year-old–reported the incident to the Wat Dhammaram temple in 2000. The family was told that the monk would be returned to Thailand but it soon became known that the pedophile monk is still serving in Wat Buddhavipassana in Long Beach, California, where it is alleged that he still has access to young children. The protesters were members of the Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests (SNAP). They handed out fliers and held up signs and placards, one of which read: “Children molested at this temple.” According to Barbara Blaine president of SNAP: We hope this temple will make the protection of children their priority, not the protection of grown men who are supposed spiritual leaders who violate their trust and rape teenage girls…We want any other victims to know as painful as it is, it is safe to come forward. They no longer need to be kept in secrecy and shame. Shortly after the protest at Wat Dhammmaram, another group of protesters gathered outside the Wat Buddhavipassana temple in California. They were addressed by the head monk who promised to consult with the leadership of the temple in Chicago. The protesters distributed fliers to members and visitors at the temple. One of the protesters, Esther Miller, said: We want families to know about a potentially dangerous predator who is assigned here at this temple…We’ve had a couple of parents march right in there with our fliers. The Buddhist monk’s pedophile abuses became known publicly last year when another woman in Chicago area filed a law-suit alleging that the monk had been sexually assaulting her since she was 14. According to the woman, she became pregnant a year after the assault began. But, according to the Chicago Tribune, the monk Boa-Ubol, reacting to the allegations against him, said that “he had contact” with the one of the girls “by accident,” but he denied having “accidental contact” with any other girl. The head of the monks at Wat Dhammram, Boonshoo Sriburin, has explained that under the structure of the Theravada temples in the U.S., Boa-Ubol was free to continue as a monk. The head monk said that Boa-Ubol “chose” not to inform the temple in California about the allegations of child sex abuse against him in Chicago. The head monk said: “We have no authority to do anything… He has his own choice to live anywhere”.
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