Guru Gauranga Dasa
Legal name Graeme Duncan
Guru Gouranga Das
Removed — Feb 14, 2001
Record summary
2 entries — 1 ISKCON finding, 1 dismissed.
Last reviewedBio
Guru Gauranga Dasa (legal name Graeme Duncan) was born in South Africa in 1966 and was initiated by Bhakti Caru Swami. According to a 2001 decision of ISKCON’s Central Office of Child Protection, he served in ISKCON’s community in Mauritius, in Mayapur (India) and in San Diego, California; around 1998–2000 he lived in San Diego and later in North Carolina.
He is not the same person as the senior devotee named “Guru Gauranga das” in GBC resolutions of the 1980s. His later activity is not confirmed in the sources reviewed.
Record
2 entries · most established firstSexual abuse of a girl from the age of 12
ISKCON's Central Office of Child Protection found in 2001, on a preponderance of evidence, that he sexually abused a girl "several times over a period of a few years when she was an adolescent"; she said the abuse began when she was 12, in 1991, and continued until 1996. He denied the allegations. The GBC Executive Committee upheld the decision on appeal in 2002.
A clinical psychologist who interviewed the complainants in 1999 reported that he found their accounts truthful. The panel called the complainant’s written and spoken statements “the most compelling evidence in the file”. It also cited statements, which it said he had acknowledged, that years earlier he had sexual relations with an underage girl; it did not adjudicate that as a separate case. The location of the abuse is not stated in the decision.
- 1998Reported allegationWritten statement from the complainant received by ISKCON's child-protection office.
- 2001ISKCON findingOfficial Decision (panel: Laxmimoni dasi, Mathuresa dasa, Nanda dasi), on a preponderance of evidence. The decision is dated 14 February 2001 in the copy reviewed.
- 2002ISKCON findingOn appeal, the GBC Executive Committee, meeting in Houston, "decided, by majority vote, to uphold the ruling of the original panel".
He was required to write a letter of apology, pay at least USD 9,000 over three years (to the complainant, to a fund for her education and therapy, and to the office for its costs) and undergo therapy with quarterly reports, failing which he would be completely banned from ISKCON. If he complied, he was barred from leadership, giving class or leading kirtan, positions of influence or representing ISKCON, staying overnight on ISKCON property, service involving minors and visiting ISKCON schools, and had to show the decision to temple presidents of temples he visited. Whether he complied is not confirmed. No police or court case has been found.
He denied the allegations, writing that "it is all lies … or else she has a very elaborate imagination". A polygraph examination he took in December 1998 and a psychological evaluation in January 1999 by a forensic psychologist supported his denial; the panel gave the polygraph reduced weight after an expert questioned its method. In 2000 he declined a second psychological evaluation as redundant. He appealed the decision; the appeal was rejected in July 2002. [1]
Sources (2)
- [1]Official Decision of the Association for the Protection of Vaisnava Children (ISKCON child protection office) on the case of Guru Gauranga dasa (Graeme Duncan), decided 14 February 2001, with the GBC Executive Committee's July 2002 memo rejecting his appeal (retyped copy), Feb 14, 2001 (document) original
- [2]Official Decision of the Association for the Protection of Vaisnava Children (ISKCON child protection office) on the case of Guru Gauranga dasa (Graeme Duncan), decided 14 February 2001, with the GBC Executive Committee's July 2002 memo rejecting his appeal (retyped copy), Feb 14, 2001 (document) original
Allegations by two other complainants (not upheld)
Two other young women told ISKCON's Central Office of Child Protection that he sexually abused them; one said this happened when she was a teenager, between 1993 and 1995. In 2001 the office's panel found insufficient evidence that he abused either of them as children.
- 1998Reported allegationOne complainant emailed ISKCON's child-protection office in July 1998; a second complainant also made allegations in the same case.
- 2001DismissedThe panel found "not sufficient evidence to support the allegations" that he sexually abused these two complainants when they were children.
He denied these allegations and said the two women had made advances towards him, which he refused. [3]
Sources (1)
- [3]Official Decision of the Association for the Protection of Vaisnava Children (ISKCON child protection office) on the case of Guru Gauranga dasa (Graeme Duncan), decided 14 February 2001, with the GBC Executive Committee's July 2002 memo rejecting his appeal (retyped copy), Feb 14, 2001 (document) original
People affected
1 people affected · 0 died- A girl, 12 when the abuse began, 1991–1996ISKCON's child-protection office found in 2001, on a preponderance of evidence, that Guru Gauranga Dasa sexually abused her several times over a few years when she was an adolescent; the GBC Executive Committee upheld the decision in 2002. He denied the allegations Abused.ConnectionISKCON finding
Timeline
Each status change in this record, on one axis, with the periods of the cases Guru Gauranga Dasa is involved in.
- 1998
- Reported allegationJuly 1998 Allegations by two other complainants (not upheld) One complainant emailed ISKCON's child-protection office in July 1998; a second complainant also made allegations in the same case.
- Reported allegationAugust 1998 Sexual abuse of a girl from the age of 12 Written statement from the complainant received by ISKCON's child-protection office.
- 2001
- ISKCON findingFeb 14, 2001 Sexual abuse of a girl from the age of 12 Official Decision (panel: Laxmimoni dasi, Mathuresa dasa, Nanda dasi), on a preponderance of evidence. The decision is dated 14 February 2001 in the copy reviewed.
- DismissedFeb 14, 2001 Allegations by two other complainants (not upheld) The panel found "not sufficient evidence to support the allegations" that he sexually abused these two complainants when they were children.
- 2002
- ISKCON findingJul 10, 2002 Sexual abuse of a girl from the age of 12 On appeal, the GBC Executive Committee, meeting in Houston, "decided, by majority vote, to uphold the ruling of the original panel".