An 84-year-old church pastor has been jailed for 12 years for sexually abusing children in East Timor.
According to the International News Agency, a court in East Timor has sentenced American priest Richard Dashbach to 12 years in prison. The convict was sent to jail on the order of the court. The priest was accused of sexually abusing orphaned and financially weak girls in a church.
For the first time in East Timor, a hardline Catholic priest has been charged with rape. He faces 14 counts of sexually abusing girls under the age of 14, as well as one count of child pornography and domestic violence.
Richard Dashbach founded a shelter for orphans and vulnerable children in the early 1990's in the remote Oakis area of East Timor.
The trial was adjourned several times before it was completed last month, and the verdict was delayed. 98% of East Timor's population is Catholic.
