Former Suburban Buddhist Priest Arrested for Alleged Sex Abuse

CBS Chicago
May 15, 2012

http://chicago.cbslocal.com/2012/05/15/former-suburban-buddhist-priest-arrested-for-alleged-sex-abuse/


ANCHORAGE, Alaska (CBS) — A Buddhist priest who once lived and worked in the southwest suburbs has been arrested on sexual assault charges.

Camnong Bual Ubol, 61 – whose name has also appeared as Camnong Boa-Ubol – was arrested on a warrant by Cook County Sheriff's police, according to a Tuesday news release.

Ubol was working at the Wat Dhammaram Buddhist temple, at 7059 W. 75th St. in Stickney Township near Bedford Park, when he allegedly fathered a child with a 15-year-old girl.

Barbara Blaine of the Survivors' Network of Those Abused by Priests told WBBM Newsradio's Steve Miller last year that Ubol began sexually abusing the girl when she was 13.

Blaine contacted sheriff's police in October, and detectives discovered that a paternity test had shown that Ubol did father a child with the teenage girl. But the test was taken in 2010 and never turned over to authorities.

At the time, Sheriff's police could not find Ubol. They learned that his last known address was the Wat Buddhavipassana Temple in Long Beach, Calif., but had been removed from that temple and was living in Anchorage, Alaska.

After sheriff's police obtained a warrant, the FBI arrested Ubol at LSG Sky Chef in Anchorage, where he had been working as a dishwasher. An extradition hearing was held Monday, and Ubol will be returned to Cook County, sheriff's police said.

The sheriff's police had asked that Ubol be held without bond, but a $30,000 cash bond with a third-party custodian requirement was ultimately set.

Ubol is currently being held in jail in Anchorage.

He was born in Pissanulok Province, Thailand, is a U.S. citizen, and has been a Buddhist priest in the United States since 1995, according to the Sheriff's office.

Meanwhile, a civil lawsuit has been filed against the temple in Stickney Township, accusing officials of trying to cover up abuse and transferring Ubol to the temple in California.