Reverend Lin Chin-yu (
Lin is the head of a Christian church and youth center with branches in Hsintien, Taipei County and Yuanli, Miaoli County. The two centers take care of orphans and teenagers who have dropped out of school due to crime or drug problems.
According to the verdict by Judge Chang Hsiao-chi (
According to the verdict, Lin began to force the girls to have sex with him in November 2000.
The three girls told their parents what Lin had done to them and said they didn't want to stay at the church anymore.
Their parents filed a suit against Lin last year.
Lin defended himself in a statement to the court and said that the three girls were troublemakers before they came to center. The reverend added that he that knew what he was doing was wrong, but said he just couldn't control his natural urges.
"They were involved in complicated sexual relationships with their boyfriends before they came here," Lin said in the statement.
"I was their mentor. However, I am a normal and healthy man and also have natural sexual desires. I just couldn't resist that desire when it came."
But the court dismissed Lin's defense.
"First of all, according to these three girls' statements, they were very close to Lin and called him `daddy' all the time, so we see no reason for them to lie and file a false suit against him," Taipei District Court spokesman Liu Shou-sung (劉壽嵩) said.
"The court also determined that a girl under 16 does not have the ability to decide whether to have sex."
A Baptist clergyman, who wished to remain anonymous, told the Taipei Times that Lin's after-care center is a unique facility for lost teenagers, adding it does not belong to any specific denomination.
"This case has already hurt [the image of] other churches," he said.
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