The head monk of a Keysborough Buddhist temple has been remanded into custody after a jury convicted him of 17 child sexual abuse charges.
Naotunne Vijitha, 70, faced a four-week trial in the Victorian County Court after pleading not guilty to 19 charges of sexual penetration of a child aged under 16 and indecent act with a child under 16.
He was accused of abusing six girls aged between four and 12 inside his living Buddhist temple quarters, a prayer room and at Sunday school.
Prosecutors said Vijitha’s abuse started after he moved to Melbourne from overseas to become head monk of the Dhamma Sarana Buddhist temple at Springvale in 1994.
The abuse continued after the temple moved to Keysborough in 2000.
The victims, who are now adults, all gave evidence to the jury in their trial, as did their relatives and friends.
Vijitha’s barrister Nick Papas KC asked the jury to set aside emotion and remember the allegations were from 25 or 30 years ago, so they must question their reliability and accuracy.
But the jurors found much of the evidence to be credible, returning guilty verdicts to 17 of the 19 charges on Thursday 30 October after a week of deliberations.
They were deadlocked on a single charge of indecent act with a child aged under 16 so Judge Pardeep Tiwana advised them to continue deliberating.
They returned a majority not-guilty verdict on that remaining charge the following morning.
Vijitha was also acquitted of a separate offence of indecent act with a child aged under 16.
After the jury left the room, Judge Tiwana told Mr Papas he had believed the case against Vijitha was strong and the witnesses had been compelling.
He remanded Vijitha into custody ahead of a pre-sentence hearing in December, where a number of victim impact statements are expected to be read to the court.
1800 RESPECT (1800 737 732)
National Sexual Abuse and Redress Support Service 1800 211 028
Kids Helpline 1800 55 1800 (for people aged 5 to 25)
