Monk who preyed on girls at Melbourne temple handed 13-year sentence

A Buddhist monk who sexually abused six young girls at his Melbourne temple has been jailed for 13 years and two months, with a judge calling his crimes a "betrayal" of trust.

Warning: This story contains details of sexual assault.

The monk's victims looked on with disgust as the man who violated them smiled and waved at supporters in court shortly after the sentence was handed down.

Naotunne Vijitha, 71, was the chief monk at the Dhamma Sarana temple in Melbourne's south-east, a position that earned him enormous respect among the Sri Lankan Buddhist community.

Judge Pardeep Tiwana described Vijitha as a man who had "a dark and disturbing side".

"You preyed on young, innocent girls for your own perverse sexual gratification," he said.

"You took away their innocence in a place of worship where they were entitled to feel safe, a place where they came to learn and practice their Buddhist teachings."

The monk will have to serve a minimum of nine years and four months before becoming eligible for parole.

During a short break after the sentence was passed Vijitha beamed at supporters, some of whom approached the court dock and bowed in his direction.

When angry victims voiced their displeasure, court security guards stopped the monk from chatting with others.

"This is ridiculous," one victim said out loud.

Vijitha, whose saffron-coloured robes had been replaced with a grey prison tracksuit, was found guilty at trial last year of nine counts of sexual penetration of a child and eight counts of committing an indecent act with a child.

His victims were young girls who attended the temple in Springvale and Keysborough between 1994 and 2002.

Vijitha repeatedly lured the victims into his living quarters and sexually abused them, the court heard, often while their unknowing parents were in nearby rooms.

The monk was charged in 2023 after the women came forward to police.

Judge Tiwana said the monk’s crimes had haunted his victims for decades, leaving them burdened by shame and fear.

“To survive, I had to teach myself not to feel,” one victim said.

In a victim impact statement, the woman detailed how the sight of saffron robes or the sounds of monks chanting caused her mental distress.

"She now lives in fear that she and her family will be branded liars, attention seekers or temple destroyers for holding you to account,"

he said.

Judge Tiwana said each victim who testified at the trial was "truthful, intelligent and articulate".

Vijitha pleaded not guilty at the trial, with his lawyers arguing that the incidents did not happen and he did not remember some of the complainants.

He was born in Sri Lanka and became ordained as a monk at 15, the court heard.

Vijitha later moved to Sweden and obtained citizenship, before relocating to Melbourne in 1994 to take on the chief monk position at the Dhamma Sarana temple.

Vijitha faces likely deportation at the end of his sentence and said he was willing to return to Sweden, the court heard.

It was there he gained "profound respect" from the temple's devotees, Judge Tiwana said, so much so that parents had "no concerns" about children being left alone in his company.

"You betrayed this immense trust in the most unexpected and egregious manner," he said.