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SANTA ANA, Calif. (KABC) — As two girls ready for a trial scheduled to begin subsequent week of their lawsuit in opposition to a Buddhist temple and monk, extra girls stated they had been additionally molested on the similar temple as younger women, this time accusing a youth chief.
The tears, ache and trauma two girls shared had been all too acquainted for Ivy Pham.
Tina Le and Thy Nguyen stated once they had been younger women, the pinnacle monk of the Bat Nha Buddhist Temple in Santa Ana sexually molested them. Their story empowered the 26-year-old to talk out.
“That is the primary time I am giving my internal little one a voice, like, I am standing up for her,” Pham stated.
She stated when she was simply 11, a youth chief on the temple, a person in his 50s, grabbed her breasts.
She stated she and the youth chief had been separating flowers for a celebration alone whereas her mom labored within the kitchen when he got here up behind her and groped her.
“I used to be simply in shock and I used to be frozen,” Pham recalled. “I could not transfer after which I felt his penis, similar to, on my again.”
She stated she tried to inform different women, however most informed her she mustn’t say something as a result of she would convey disgrace to the temple.
Pham felt shamed and silenced. She stated it took her some time to divulge heart’s contents to her mom. Her mother reported this to the pinnacle monk Thich Nguyen Tri, the identical man Le and Nguyen sued, however Pham stated the pinnacle monk did nothing.
“Seeing the monk not take any motion to take away him in any respect, that like infuriated me,” she stated.
Two different girls who didn’t need to be recognized spoke with Eyewitness Information over the cellphone Thursday with related accusations in opposition to the identical youth chief.
They stated they had been youngsters on the time of the abuse.
One stated the person touched her breasts twice, as soon as over her shirt as he gave her a trip and the second time beneath her shirt with different college students current. She stated the youth chief pretended to repair her uniform badge each instances.
The opposite girl stated he hugged her and kissed her on the cheeks and lips within the storage of her house throughout a dance follow when nobody else was there.
She pushed him off, ran and informed her mates. This girl stated her friends known as the youth chief “creepy,” encouraging her to inform the moms, however stated when she did, they dismissed her accusations.
All three girls who spoke with Eyewitness Information Thursday stated they had been contemplating going to police and hoped their tales introduced consciousness.
Pham stated she was nonetheless coping with this incident by way of remedy, combating nightmares and anxiousness.
She did not need others to undergo the identical trauma and was hopeful, “justice was across the nook.”
“It isn’t only for me, however it’s for different folks as nicely. I hope this sort of guides younger women, or boys, to talk up if this incident ever occurred to them,” Pham stated.
Court docket paperwork confirmed Le and Nguyen initially went to Santa Ana Police in 2017 to press expenses in opposition to Nguyen Tri, however the suspect wasn’t interviewed by officers till 2021.
In a deposition of one of many officers assigned to the case by opposing counsel within the lawsuit, the SAPD officer admitted 4 years handed as a result of the file was misplaced.
The case was filed with the Orange County District Legal professional’s Workplace this previous summer season, greater than 5 years after the ladies initially reported this to police.
A spokesperson with the OCDA’s workplace stated they rejected the case, “due to inadequate proof.”
Eyewitness Information requested each the SAPD and OCDA whether or not the lag time was concerned within the rejection of the case by the DA’s workplace.
An SAPD spokesperson informed Eyewitness Information they solely knew it was rejected due to inadequate proof.
As of Thursday night, ABC7 has not heard again from the DA’s workplace.
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