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Tempotimor (Dili)-Gabinete Kombate Korupsaun no Kriminalidade Organizada (GKKKO) iha Ministériu Públiku (MP) finaliza ona akuzasaun kontra 'padre' ida ho inisiál RD ne’ebé deskonfia komete abuzu seksual hasoru labarik kiik.

Is the prosecutor brave enough to prosecute church commission?

Tempotimor (Dili) - The Catholic Church in Timor-Leste is interfering with the course of justice in the case against ex-priest R.D., who is being investigated by the office of the prosecutor for allegedlysexually abusing girls in the shelter he was running in the country’s enclave Oecusse. Last week the Justice and Peace Commission, which falls under the Metropolitan Archdiocese, distributed a report criticizing the prosecutor’s criminal investigations and disclosing the names of potential victims,witnesses and the suspect himself.

Breaking the law

‘The commission is violating the penal code,’ lawyer Manuel Tilman told Tempo Timor. While the prosecutor is investigating a case, the information that is gathered such as the identity of victims, witnesses, the suspect and their statements are confidential and may not be published.

The lawyer says that the church’s commission can be prosecuted for breaking the law by releasing the names. ‘Now it depends on the public prosecutor whether he is brave enough to start to prosecute the Justice and Peacecommission, Tilman said.

Sharp criticism

On 27 August a team of the commission went to the enclave of Oecusse, where Topu Honis shelter for orphans and vulnerable people is located. The report explains how the team spoke to young girls, who are potential victims and witnesses in the criminal case of the prosecutors, as well as parents. Their names and identities, as well as those of the suspect, are disclosed in the report. The commission also spoke to lawyers, the Commissioner for the Rights of the Child and the police.

In the report the police and prosecution are said to have intimidated the girls during their investigations into the alleged sexual abuse. NGO’s supporting victims and doctors are also criticized. The report states that the commission had problems in getting information about the whereabouts of several girls. The commission concludes that the NGO’s work closely together in this case and accuses them of ‘organised crime’, ‘exploitation of underage girls’, ‘human trafficking’ and being a ‘justice-mafia.’

However, the steps of the commission are in sharp contrast to the Vatican’s decisions and contradict the earlier position of high-level church officials in Timor-Leste itself.

Who is R.D.?

R.D. is an American ex-priest originally from Pittsburg, USA, belonging to the congregation Societas Verbi Divini (SVD, Society of the Divine Word). He arrived in 1966 on the islandof Timor. In the early nineties he established Topu HonisShelter Home in Oecusse. The centre was described on its website as ‘a safe haven’ for orphans, children ‘from extremely poor homes, disabled adults, and women fleeing abuse.’ Over the years it ‘served more than 600 children and adults in the area,’ stated the website, before it was taken down.

Confessions

Behind the scenes however, there was another reality. Early March 2018 the SVD received information with allegations that R.D. had sexually abused girls in the Topu Honisorphanage in the small mountain hamlet of Kutet. During a phone conversation with SVD’s superior general in Rome, R.D. admitted his crimes. Father Yohanes Suban Gapun, SVD’s regional superior based in Timor-Leste, sat nearby the accused priest when he made his confessions. ‘It is 100 percent true,’ Gapun heard R.D. saying. ‘He repeated that four times, Gapun told Tempo Timor in an earlier interview.

The Vatican

In November 2018 R.D. was defrocked after the Vatican’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF) had investigated the allegations, concluded the priest was guilty of sexually abusing minors, and decreed his official dismissal.On 30 November 2018 R.D. signed the document accepting the Vatican’s decision.

He is not considered a priest anymore. He accepted the accusation, and signed the letter with the accusation about the wrong, misleading behaviour that he committed,’ Father Jovito Rêgo de Jesus Araújo, episcopal vicar for pastoral care of the diocese of Dili, told Tempo Timor in an interview in January 2019. ‘He committed a crime,’ father Jovito added.‘He needs to be arrested.

Celebrating mass

Meanwhile R.D. was still living freely in Oecusse. On 30 December 2018, a month after R.D. was defrocked, Fr. Jovitowent to Kutet to prevent the ex-priest from performing mass. ‘But when I arrived he had celebrated [mass] already. I was mad, because he already got the letter from the Diocese that he was not allowed to celebrate [mass]. I told the people: if you want to help him, better not to come to his celebrations.’

Wire fraud

The church, however, mainly kept quiet about the case. When R.D. was arrested for the first time in April 2019, he wasaccommodated in a SVD-residence under an informal house arrest arrangement. In November 2019 R.D. escaped to Oecusse, but was captured by the police when he arrived by ferry. A month later, in December, the court sent him to prison. Six months later R.D. was released from jail and put under house arrest. However, in July the defrocked priest briefly disappeared, violating his house arrest rules, but then resurfaced again. While the public prosecutor is investigating R.D. for allegedly sexually abusing young Timorese girls, the former priest is also wanted by the USA government for wire fraud.

The American ex-priest R.D., defrocked by the Vatican for sexually abusing girls in Timor-Leste, is wanted by the USA for wire fraud. Interpol has published a red notice calling on people worldwide to contact their local police if they have information about the former priest. The USA considers him a fugitive. For decades R.D. lived in Timor-Leste, where he committed his alleged crimes, but currently it is unknown where R.D. is staying.

Tempo Timor (Dili) - This morning judge Eusebio Xavier Vitor decided that an ex-priest R.D.is sent to Dili main prison in Becora for preventive detention. R.D., who originally is from the United States, has been accused of sexually abusing children in the shelter Topu Honis in Oecusse which he set up in the early nineties.

Tempo Timor (Maliana) - Former priest R.D., who is accused of child sexual abuse in the Topu Honis shelter in Oecusse, wants to be in prison. ‘He wants to give himself up to the police so they arrest him and put him in jail,’ father Lazarus Mau, the head of the SVD congregation in Maliana, told Tempo Timor.

Tempotimor (Maliana ) – Eis Padre RD ne’ebé deskonfia komete krime abuzu sexuál hasoru minoridade iha uma mahon Topu Honis, Oécusse hakarak tama prizaun.

“Nia hakarak entrega an ba Polísia. Hakarak tama komarka,” Padre Lazarus Mau, SVD ulun boot kongregasaun Societas Verbi Divini (SVD) nian, iha Maliana ba tempotimor.com, Kuarta (13/11/19).

RD, tuir Padre Lazarus sai husi uma SVD iha Maliana, iha Tersa (12/11/19) dadersan ba Dili. To'o Dili, iha lokraik loron hanesan, RD sa’e Ró naran Succes, hodi kontinua nia viajen ba Oécusse.

“Nia ba tiha ona horiseik, depois sa’e ró ba Oécusse. Iha Maliana mós nia fó hatene ona ba Polísia. Nia rasik hakarak ba Oécusse. Depois to’o iha ne’ebá nia hakarak Polísia kaer nia lori ba komarka,” Padre Lazarus haktuir.

RD, tuir Padre Lazarus hetan akompanamentu husi señora Lili (atuál Diretora Topu Honis) ho ninia ema sira ne'ebé mai hasoru RD iha Maliana. “Sira to’o iha ne’e maizumenus tuku 07.15, depois sira sai husi ne’e ho karreta pickup ida maizumenus tuku 08.00 dadersan iha Tersa (12/11/19),” Padre Lazarus esplika.

Dezde Abril 2019, suspetu RD hela iha rezidénsia SVD iha Maliana, tuir aranju ne’ebe hanaran ‘House Arrest’.

“Nia dehan, nia lakohi subar tan iha ne’e,” hatete Padre Lazarus Mau.

Iha Segunda (11/11/19) eis saserdote ne’e ba aprezenta an iha eskuadra PNTL Munisípiu Maliana no husu kona-ba ninia kazu. Maibé, PNTL Maliana hateten ba RD katak ninia kazu ne’e monu iha PNTL Oécusse, nia responsabilidade.

Ne'ebé, bainhira RD to’o iha Oécusse, dadersan sedu loron Kuarta (13/11/19), Polísia sira preparadu ona iha portu Mahata, hodi kaer RD no lori kedan ba eskuadra PNTL Oécusse.

Iha fulan Abril liubá, Polísia Timor-Leste kaptura ona eis-padre Amerikanu ne'e. Autoridade legál mós prende nia pasaporte. Amlulik Lazarus Mau hatete, antes ne’e RD la hetan detensaun. Parte legál no igreja permite eis-padre ne'e hodi hela iha rezidénsia SDV nian iha Maliana ho razaun katak nia katuas ona, nomós konsidera ninia kontribuisaun ba Timor-Leste.

Bainhira intervista ho tempotimor.com loron 17 Setembru liubá, Padre Lazarus Mau ne’ebé ho idade 69 hateten, Rezidénsia SVD Maliana nu'udar fatin ne'ebé seguru. “Ha'u katuas ona, nia mós (RD) katuas ona," hatete Padre Lazarus.

Maski nune'e, nu'udar ulun boot SVD nian iha Maliana, Lazarus iha responsabilidade hodi kontrola suspeitu RD . “Bainhira nia ba merkadu, frater ida tenki akompaña nia. Ha'u rasik mak deside katak ema ruma bele mai vizita nia ka lae,” Lazarus esplika.

Tuir Lazarus, baibain se estudante ka ema ruma hosi Oécusse mak hakarak mai haree RD, ida ne'e la problema. Nune’e mós atuál Diretora Topu Honis, señora Lily Tarung ne'ebé bainhira ba vizita RD iha Maliana, sira tenki hasoru malu iha liur. La'ós iha rezidénsia SVD.

Fotográfia ida iha Instagram, hatudu katak suspeitu tuur hela iha restaurante ida iha Maliana hodi halimar laptop, bainhira señora Lily Tarung hemu hela serveza. Lili Tarung lakohi simu alegasaun hasoru nia xefi. Maske iha 2018, iha momentu wainhira RD konfesa ba doadór ida hosi Austrália naran Tony Hamilton katak nia komete duni abuzu seksuál. Tarung mós iha ne'ebá hodi asiste. Hamilton hateten, RD konfesa ba nia katak nia sempre halo abuzu seksuál ba labarik sira iha Topu Honis.

Informasaun balun hatete, iha mós alegasaun hasoru Señora Lili Tarung, tanba nia konsidera falla hodi proteje labarik sira iha Topu Honis.

Bainhira RD hetan kapturasaun iha Abril, Tarung haruka mane ida hodi ataka feto ida ne’ebé uluk hela iha orfonatu no iha ona oan ida ne’ebé nia deskonfia katak fó ona testemuña ba parte legál sira.

Feto ne’e hetan baku nune’e hetan kanek. Tarung mós hetan detensaun temporáriu. Maibé, hahalok violente ne’e halo eis orfonatu sira iha Topu Honis aumenta ta'uk atu ko'alia sai. Tanba sira tauk ema atu asalta ka ataka sira. Sira kontinua fó presaun ba pesoál sira iha Topu Honis. Nune’e mós sira ne’ebé hela besik iha ne'ebá.

The former priest who is under investigation for sexually abusing girls in an orphanage in Oecusse, has been arrested again. The suspect was under ‘house arrest’ in Maliana, but was spotted on the ferry ‘Success’ which left Dili harbour on Tuesday afternoon (12 November). When he arrived in Oecusse early Wednesday morning (13 November) the police was waiting for the ex-priest in the port, arrested him and took him to the police station in Oecusse. ‘I am acting on the orders of the PGR,’ confirmed Arnaldo de Araujo, the police commander in Oecusse to Tempo Timor by telephone, referring to the Prosecutor General of the Republic.

Iha loron 12 Novembro kalan, tempotimor.com hetan eis padre ne’e iha Ro Success laran wainhira hala’o daudaun viajen ba Oekuse.

Ro refere sai husi Dili iha loron Tersa (12/11) tuku 17.00 no too iha Oekuse loron Kuarta tuku (05/11) dadersan mais ou menus tuku 05.30.

Polisia iha Timor-Leste ohin (loron-sesta, 26 Abril) kaer eis-padre R.D., ne’ebé hetan akuzasaun halo abuzu seksuál ba labarik-feto ki’ik sira iha ninia orfanatu iha enklave Oecusse. Sira lori nia iha juís nia oin, fonte sira iha Timor-Leste konfirma. Fulan-novembru tinan liubá Vatikanu hasai R.D. hosi ninia estatutu nu’udar kleru, hodi kastiga nia ba krime sira-ne’ebé tuir ema dehan nia komete bainhira nia sei amo-padre. Ida-ne’e mak primeiravés katak kazu ida kona-ba violénsia seksuál kontra labarik sira hosi membru Kleru Katóliku sai públiku iha Timor-Leste.

Updated: Sunday 28 April

The police in Timor-Leste has arrested a former priest who has been accused of sexually abusing young girls in his orphanage in the country’s enclave Oecusse. R.D. was brought before the judge last Friday (26 April) and is now in custody, sources confirm. Meanwhile the director of the shelter has been arrested as well after she was involved in an attack against a former resident of the orphanage whom she suspected of having given a statement against the priest.

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