A head Buddhist monk allegedly sexually abused six young children inside his living quarters, a Buddhist temple prayer room and at Sunday school, a jury has been told.
The youngest girls were aged four, and one claims she was abused four times across two Dhamma Sarana Buddhist temple sites in Melbourne until she was aged 11 or 12.
Venerable Naotunne Vijitha, 70, faced the first day of a jury trial at Victoria’s County Court on Wednesday dressed in orange and red robes, and wearing sandals and a red beanie.
Vijitha is charged with 19 child sex abuse offences involving six alleged victims, beginning after he took up a post as head of the Dhamma Sarana temple at Springvale in 1994.
The alleged offending continued after the temple was relocated to Keysborough, in the early 2000s, prosecutors told the jury.
Vijitha, who is on bail, has pleaded not guilty and denies all offending.
The chief monk sat at the back of the court as Judge Pardeep Tiwana informed 14 jurors that Vijitha’s fasting rituals must be accommodated during the trial.
He was supported in court by a second monk in robes and six others.
Prosecutor Fiona Martin said Vijitha was accused of nine charges of sexual penetration with a girl aged under 16 at the time, and 10 counts of indecent act with a girl under 16.
“Within the temple, he was referred to as the … ‘main Sadhu’ and taught Sunday school classes and held those [classes] in his living quarters,” she said.
All six alleged victims attended the temple with their families between 1994 and 2002, some for special celebrations or ceremonies to mourn loved ones, she said.
Others attended the temple regularly as their families were very religious, Martin said.
One of the alleged victims migrated from Sri Lanka to Australia with her “very religious” family, and her mother would make food for the monks, Martin said.
The girl attended regular Sunday school classes taught by Vijitha, who sexually abused her five times between the ages of nine and 11 inside his room at the Springvale temple, Martin alleged.
Another girl alleged Vijitha called her to his room when she was at the temple with her parents and held onto her as she tried to get away, before telling her “not to tell anyone”, the court heard.
A girl claimed Vijitha pulled her into the main prayer area when she was four and allegedly placed his hands across her crotch, before asking her in Sinhalese: “You’re not angry, are you?”
Another alleged victim claimed Vijitha sexually abused her in his bedroom after she attended the temple for a ceremony on the anniversary of her grandmother’s death. Vijitha took the girl to his living quarters to show her a model of the temple and give her a religious book, then allegedly touched her inappropriately, Martin said.
One of the girls reported the alleged abuse to a school counsellor in 2005, claiming she had been touched by a monk at her Sunday school. Martin said the counsellor reported it to police, however the girl did not wish for it to be investigated at the time and she did not pursue the allegations until 2022.
Another alleged victim contacted Crime Stoppers in 2021.
Vijitha’s barrister Nick Papas, KC, asked the jury to set aside emotion during the trial and remember the allegations were from 25 or 30 years ago, so jurors must question their reliability and accuracy.
“Some of the events are so improbable as to stretch any grounds of credulity,” he said.
“He says he’s not guilty, he denies the charges, there’s no middle ground here, the Crown has to prove its case beyond reasonable doubt.”
The trial continues.
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