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Pedophile former priest evades justice in Timor-Leste
Despite his crimes, American Richard Daschbach enjoys celebrity status in the tiny Catholic-majority nation
Former Timor-Leste president Xanana Gusmao (right) with Richard Daschbach, a former priest defrocked by the Vatican for child sexual abuse. (Photo: Twitter)
Richard Daschbach might be 84, defrocked from the priesthood and under house arrest in Timor-Leste capital Dili, but he continues to make a buzz in the tiny Catholic-majority Southeast Asian nation.
The self-proclaimed pedophile and former priest from the Society of the Divine Word congregation has hit the headlines again in Timor-Leste and beyond.
On Jan. 26, former president Xanana Gusmao visited the American to greet him on his birthday and pose for photos in what some believe was a political stunt by the former guerrilla leader turned politician.