Sex offender gets
40 years in prison
The leader of a small sect on
By Anthony Sommer
Kauai used his position to fool his
young victim into having
sex with him
Star-BulletinLIHUE -- Thich An Than and the 14-year-old girl with whom he had been having weekly sex for two and a half years didn't exchange glances until he was being led out of the courtroom yesterday morning.
By that time, An Than had been sentenced by Circuit Judge George Masuoka to 40 years in prison without the possibility of parole for sexual assault. At age 52, it amounts to a life sentence.
After he had gone out the door in chains, the girl -- who had remained stone-faced through the sentencing hearing -- started to cry.
"None of us can have any understanding of the emotional scars he gave her," Deputy Prosecutor Shaylene Iseri-Carvalho said during the hearing.
The leader of a small Buddhist community in Kilauea, An Than pleaded no contest to 20 felony counts of sexual assault with the girl. He was indicted on 551 counts of sexual assault.
He fled Kauai last year when police began investigating him and was extradited from California last month. His lawyer, Jim Itamura, yesterday told the judge he wasn't running from the police, but that his wife had thrown him out and he had no place on Kauai to stay.
An Than is a self-styled priest and his small sect appears to have no connection with mainstream Buddhism. He is a French citizen and claims to be an expert in herbal remedies.
According to the indictment, An Than conducted private religious classes with the girl every week for two and a half years, beginning when she was 11 years old.
He convinced her that having sex with him was part of her training.
Prosecutors said he was suspected of having sexual relationships with several other young students, but none would come forward to testify.
When it came his turn to speak at the hearing, An Than apologized to the girl and her family.
"I wish I could undo the pain and anger," he said without looking at them. "I have no excuse for my wrongdoing."
"You took advantage of your position and you did what you did in the name of religion, which makes it twice as bad," Masuoka told him. "You will be released when you are 100 years old. That's all."
