The leader of a Buddhist temple in Louisiana is accused of having a nun become pregnant: The woman was denied an abortion and returned to Vietnam.
Abbot Quyen Van Ho, leader of the Tam Bao Temple in Baton Rouge, was accused of recruiting Vietnamese Buddhist nuns for sexual relations.
Members of the temple filed a legal claim against Ho, alleging that his actions prompted a mass exodus of members and destroyed the temple’s community.
The lawsuit demanded that Ho be barred from spending temple cash and fired from his post.
However, one of the litigants, temple member Phuong Le, told DailyMail.com that the impregnated nun never disclosed who fathered her child.
Ho rejected the claims against him, and his defense contended that the allegations lacked merit and warranted no judicial action.
The abbot of a Buddhist temple in Louisiana is embroiled in a civil complaint after members of the temple accused him of frequently recruiting Vietnamese nuns and engaging in sexual encounters with them.
Some members of the Tam Bao Temple in Baton Rouge believe that Abbot Quyen Van Ho, whose religious name is Thich Dao Quang, impregnated one of these nuns in the spring of 2018 and then shipped her back to Vietnam after an abortion clinic declined to terminate her pregnancy due to its advanced stage.
However, one of the plaintiffs alleging Ho, temple member Phuong Le, told DailyMail.com that the impregnated nun never revealed who impregnated her, and that it was assumed Ho was the father because he moved the nun away without alerting the temple community or board of directors why.
Le further asserted that Ho must be the father because Buddhist nuns cannot leave the temple grounds unsupervised. When asked if nuns were forcibly kept on temple premises, she responded no, but asserted that Ho was the only person who could have pregnant the nun.
After yesterday’s hearing in Baton Rouge, Ho’s attorney, Yigal Bander, referred to the claims as “defamatory lies” and contended that they have no place in a court of law.
“The courts are not in a position to say who is a good pastor, whether a pastor should be employed or fired, or if a pastor is living up to his beliefs,” he said.
Bander told DailyMail.com that the plaintiffs had provided little to no proof to back their claims and that the ‘vast majority’ of the temple community supported Ho.
It is uncertain if the court will rule on the case because it skirts the First Amendment’s prohibitions against government interference in the free exercise of religion.
In yesterday’s session, the court suggested that the temple conduct an internal vote to determine Ho’s future within the temple.
The plaintiffs’ attorney, Amber Lorio, did not respond to a request for comment.
Abbot Quyen Van Ho, leader of the Tam Bao Temple in Baton Rouge, was accused of recruiting Vietnamese Buddhist nuns for sexual relations.
This week, Abbot Quyen Van Ho appeared with his defense counsel, Yigal Bander (left) and Tanner Woods (right), outside a courthouse in Baton Rouge.
According to the lawsuit, Ho caused irreparable damage to the temple by “violating his Buddhist vows, particularly his vow of celibacy,” and his expulsion from the temple was demanded.
‘Except for Quyen Van Ho and one other monk, all monks, nuns, and novices have left Tam Bao Temple due to Quyen Van Ho’s immoral acts. Because of this, membership in the temple has dropped, as has the ability of its members to raise donations,’ the lawsuit stated.
Members feared Ho would misappropriate temple assets and requested that he be denied access to the community’s resources, according to the lawsuit.
In April, when the lawsuit was initially filed, a judge granted this request, but the block expired in May.
Ho has been the leader of the Tam Bao Temple since 2003, and the plaintiffs allege that his conduct continued for years before the lawsuit was filed in April.
In addition to the pregnancy of a nun in 2018 and the alleged recruitment of nuns for sexual purposes, the plaintiffs say that Ho has permitted sexual interactions between monks and nuns at the temple and violated chastity vows.
Le highlighted a series of sexually explicit texts sent in 2020 by Ho and at least one other monk, but refused to comment on their content.
Bander informed DailyMail.com that no explicit text messages existed.
This Monday, Temple member Lila Ton spoke in front of the Baton Rouge courthouse. She states that the temple community attempted to remove Ho but was unsuccessful.
Yesterday, outside the courthouse in Baton Rouge, temple members and supporters of the lawsuit against Ho stated that their efforts to remove him had failed and that the courts were their final chance.
This Monday, Lila Ton, a temple member, said outside a Baton Rouge courthouse, “We’ve tried so many channels to grant him forgiveness, and now it’s time for the court to act.”
Mya Tran, another temple member, also spoke outside the courts, claiming that female temple members have been’silenced.’
Tran stated, “I look up to many of these women, especially for what they’ve done for our community, so watching them be so mistreated and silenced on this issue really upsets me.”
But Ho’s defense claimed that it makes no difference what complaints or evidence of improper Buddhist behavior temple members may have, arguing that the charges were without merit and that he was protected by the first amendment.
‘The unhappy members argue that the Abbot is an unethical person and a lousy Buddhist whose acts have brought shame upon the temple, the Vietnamese community, and the Buddhist faith,’ Ho’s defense said when the lawsuit was launched last spring.
Yesterday, outside the courthouse, his team reinforced these points.
Bander stated, “They have made numerous charges that, as you have heard, are none of the court’s business.”
Tanner Woods, co-counsel for Bander, stated, “The government has no right to select our religious leaders.”
Since 2003, Abbot Quyen Van Ho has led the Tam Bao Temple. Plaintiffs assert that his misbehavior has persisted for years.
Louisiana’s Tam Bao Temple is located in Baton Rouge. The court has ordered the temple to conduct an internal election to determine Ho’s fate.
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