CityNews – The Criminal Court handed down a sentence to a former monk on Thursday, 26th June. The monk will serve roughly 5 and a half years in prison for raping a 14-year-old girl in a Bangkok temple last year.
Sanan Kamseedaeng (65), formerly known as Phra Maha Sanan Atipattho, was originally given a sentence of six years for the count of raping a minor, and five years for the count of keeping a child against their will. But the court said they cut the ruling in half because the man confessed to his crimes.
On 28th May 2013, Sanan had told the victim to bring alcohol, soda, and ice to his room at a temple, where he then raped her. The victim, who was very poor, knew the monks at the temple because they would sometimes give her free food. Apparently, after Sanan had raped her, he gave her 180 baht. When the incident came to light, Sanan was expelled from monkhood and immediately confessed to the rape.
This is just another example of monks’ misbehaviour and abuse of authority, which recently led to the National Office of Buddhism launching a 24-hour hotline for the public to report dishonesty or criminal activity committed by monks. Since the hotline went live in June 2014, 142 complaints against monks have been made.