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Police investigate claims of sexual assault at temple

Police were investigating allegations of fraud and sexual assault involving a 24-year-old man who claimed to be a priest and capable of warding off ghosts that haunt homosexuals, officers said yesterday.

“We just received a report by a male victim and will summon the suspect for questioning over his alleged role” in fraud and sexual assault, an officer said by telephone.

The suspect, identified as Tsai Hung-chieh (蔡汯傑), 24, has a previous fraud conviction and is serving a suspended sentence of four years, the officer said.

The investigation followed news reports that up to a dozen homosexuals who visited a “temple” for gays to improve their chances of finding a lover claimed they had been swindled out of money and sexually molested by a male priest.

The Chinese-language Apple Daily reported yesterday that Tsai, one of two priests at the Wei Ming Temple in Yonghe City (永和), allegedly told visitors there was a ghost in their penis and that it could only be driven out through masturbation.

Tsai allegedly raped some of the men after giving them a drink spiked with a sedative, the paper reported, quoting a victim identified as “Hsiao Kang.”

Tsai allegedly charged some visitors between NT$3,600 and NT$360,000 for counseling and instructions on how to meet someone.

Hsiao Kang told the Apple Daily he had teamed up with several other victims in reporting Tsai to police to put a stop to his crimes.

“There might be many other victims who have been cheated and molested by Tsai but don’t dare to report it to police for fear of being exposed,” he said.

Cable news network TVBS quoted temple founder Lu Wei-ming as saying that Tsai had committed the crimes while Lu was abroad.

Police said if found guilty of fraud and sexual assault, the suspect would be sentenced to more than five years in jail.
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