BREAKING NEWS: Monk charged with rape of underage girl (From Your Local Guardian)

Croydon buddhist monk charged with sexually assaulting a girl in the 70s

12:51pm Tuesday 20th September 2011 in News

A Buddhist monk has been charged with rape and sexual assaults on an underage girl committed in the 1970’s.

Phalagama Somartana, of Dulverton Road, Croydon, is due at Feltham Magistrates Court on September 23 charged with one count of rape with a girl under 16 between the start of 1977 and the end of 1978, and three indecent assaults with a girl under 16 during the same period.

All the incidents are alleged to have taken place in Chiswick.

The 65-year-old, charged on September 12, is a monk at the Thames Buddhist Vihara on Dulverton Road, South Croydon.

A member of the temple declined to comment on the allegations.