B.C. lawsuit accuses Buddhist monk of abusing boy after mother granted guardianship

The Law Courts building, which is home to B.C. Supreme Court and the Court of Appeal, is seen in Vancouver, on Thursday, November 23, 2023. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck

A lawsuit filed in B.C. Supreme Court alleges a boy who was placed in the care of a Buddhist monk was subjected to years of abuse while living at a Vancouver temple.

The lawsuit that seeks damages says the child was six when their mother, a Vietnamese refugee, assigned legal guardianship to the defendant monk and the boy was sent to live at the Chan Quang Temple in East Vancouver in 2003.

The notice of civil claim filed last week says the monk allegedly subjected the child to “polytraumatic abuse,” including burning him with boiling water, striking him with percussion mallet, whipping him with sticks and force-feeding the child until the point of sickness with salt, soy sauce and blueberries.

It says the child was hospitalized after the defendant monk allegedly stomped on his abdomen and ruptured his stomach, but the plaintiff claims he was “coached” to blame the injury on his brother, who also lived at the temple as a novice monk.

The lawsuit says that after the boy was hospitalized for three weeks in 2005 he was placed into foster care and a police investigation began, but there were no charges because the boy protected the monk and the temple “as he was groomed to do.”

The allegations have not been tested in court and neither the monk nor the temple have filed responses to the claim, while calls to the temple went unanswered.

The lawsuit dated Aug. 13 says the boy was sent back to his mother after foster care.

The legal action seeks damages against the monk for assault, battery and intentional infliction of emotional distress, and against the society that runs the temple for allegedly failing to report the monk’s “abusive propensities.”

This report by Darryl Greer, The Canadian Press, was first published Aug. 18, 2025.