BURST
A Vancouver Vietnamese Buddhist temple and one of its spiritual leaders are facing allegations of sexually, physically and psychologically abusing a young boy in their care.
Than Van Ut and the World Vietnamese Buddhist Order Chan Quang Temple are named in a revised lawsuit by a plaintiff anonymized as A.Q. In the updated suit — filed in B.C. Supreme Court in mid-February — A.Q.’s older half-brother, anonymized as N.P., has been added as a defendant.
The lawsuit says A.Q.’s single mother, a refugee from Vietnam, placed the boy under the guardianship of Than, N.P. and the temple on East First Avenue in Vancouver in the spring of 2003, when A.Q. was six years old. A.Q. alleges Than abused him repeatedly until a serious incident three years later that led to hospitalization, A.Q.’s apprehension by protection workers from the B.C. Ministry of Children and Family Development, and a police investigation.
Than’s lawyer, Ronald J. Pederson, said Than “emphatically denies all of the allegations against him made by the plaintiff, and will vigorously defend the lawsuit.” Nathan Lidder, a lawyer for the temple society, told Postmedia he needs time to talk to his clients before responding.
Than was first sued in August 2025. Through Than’s response, A.Q.’s lawyers learned of allegations that N.P. was not one of Than’s victims, but participated in a conspiracy to conceal the abuse by falsely confessing to the assault that led to A.Q.’s admission to B.C. Children’s Hospital in 2006 for severe abdominal trauma.
Vancouver Police Department and hospital files, accessed by A.Q.’s lawyers through freedom of information legislation, document that a man identifying as the victim’s half-brother was arrested by police on Nov. 7, 2006, after saying that he punched and kicked A.Q. in the stomach. The documents report internal bleeding and esophageal damage as well as an air leak around the heart. Older scarring on the top of the victim’s feet was also documented.
In the lawsuit, A.Q. alleges being abused not by his brother but by Than, including hitting A.Q.’s head with a percussion mallet causing bleeding and head trauma, throwing boiling water on him, making him stand in a stock pot and threatening to turn on the burner, grabbing his wrist and trying to force his hand onto a hot stove, hitting him with sticks and a wooden spatula, pushing him down stairs, and spitting on his face.
The lawsuit alleges Than told A.Q. not to report the physical abuse or he would turn it upon A.Q.’s brother.
It alleges Than confined A.Q. in a shower through a cold evening with the windows open. A.Q. also alleges he was sent to a darkened room in the sanctuary with a Buddhist demon statue meant to inspire fear. At other times, he alleges he was force-fed food, including spicy peppers and hot sriracha sauce, until he became sick.
The lawsuit also alleges several incidents of sexual assault.
It claims “sexual, physical and psychological abuse of the vulnerable male plaintiff” by Than from 2003 until 2006, and that the abuse “was enabled and aggravated by the defendant N.P.’s breach of fiduciary duty, willful blindness, and conspiracy with Than and the temple.”
The temple is part of a monastic global organization rooted in Vietnamese Buddhist traditions, and has registered charitable status in Canada.
According to the lawsuit, A.Q.’s mother was a regular attendee at the temple and, in about 1999, N.P. started living at the temple in hopes of eventually achieving monkhood.
Than, a Buddhist monk, was known to A.Q. as “teacher” and according to A.Q.’s lawyer, remains a prominent member of the local Vietnamese community. The lawsuit claims “Than was in a position of spiritual authority and the plaintiff was in a position of extreme vulnerability.”
Although there is some question as to who was A.Q.’s legal guardian, the lawsuit alleges Than, N.P., and the temple society all owed the boy a duty of care that they failed to uphold.
It alleges that “Than exploited his position of religious authority and trust to carry out the continuum of abuse and to coerce the infant plaintiff to conceal it.” The added defendant, N.P., “knew or ought to have known of the abuse but failed to take any or any reasonable steps to protect the plaintiff from the abuse.”
A.Q., now nearly 30, is suing for his physical injuries and aftereffects including substance abuse, severe depression with suicidal ideation, panic attacks, nightmares, emotional dysregulation, dissociation and familial alienation.
He is seeking relief including aggravated damages for loss of past and future earning capacity, cost of future care, punitive damages and compensation for breach of fiduciary duty.
None of the allegations has been tested in court.