Former Priest and ‘Shelter Home’ Operator Indicted for Illicit Sexual Conduct Against Minors
Richard Jude Daschbach
A federal grand jury in Washington, D.C., returned an indictment yesterday charging a U.S. citizen and resident of Timor Leste with seven counts of engaging in illicit sexual conduct in a foreign place.
According to court documents, Richard Jude Daschbach, 84, is a former priest who is alleged to have engaged in illicit sexual conduct with minor victims in Timor Leste starting in at least 2013. As alleged, Daschbach operated a “shelter home” for children in Timor Leste. Victims disclosed that Daschbach sexually abused them when they were children and resided in the shelter home. Daschbach was defrocked by the Catholic church after some of the victims disclosed the abuse to the church. Daschbach is currently facing related child sexual exploitation charges in Timor Leste. In addition, in 2019, a grand jury in the Northern District of California returned an indictment against Daschbach for wire fraud in connection with his fundraising activity for the shelter home.
Today’s indictment represents a significant step toward accountability for harms suffered by multiple vulnerable children allegedly victimized by this defendant,” said Assistant Attorney General Kenneth A. Polite Jr. for the Justice Department’s Criminal Division. “I’d like to thank the hardworking investigative and prosecution teams for their work today and every day to ensure that child predators face justice and children are kept safe.”
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Source: The U.S. Justice Department