Satadhanya Dasa
Legal name Stanley Fedderof
Satadhanya SwamiSatadhanya dasaSatadanyaSadadhanya
Removed — Jan 25, 2000
- Sannyasi in the early 1980s; later gave up sannyasa and married
- Member, local Mayapur construction committee (GBC 1987)
- 1987
- Chairman, Mayapur Administrative Council (1991)
- 1991
- Regional secretary (gave up the post by January 1993)
- ISKCON representative to government in India (his own description, 1992)
- Represented the GBC in a Calcutta High Court case, as the only person named in its affidavit-in-opposition (according to VNN, 1999)
- 1999
- Finance / Legals, then Legal and Official Services, Temple of the Vedic Planetarium
- 2009–2011
- Secretary (Legal & Official Relations), ISKCON TOVP, Mayapur (2017)
- 2017
Protected by · 1
ISKCON MayapurKept him in a prominent position in Mayapur after his abuse of boys became known; ISKCON's child-protection office found in 2000 that this protection "went beyond what can be explained by naivete, ignorance, or simple forgiveness".
Record summary
1 entry — 1 ISKCON finding.
Last reviewedBio
Satadhanya Dasa (legal name Stanley Fedderof) served ISKCON at Sridhama Mayapur, West Bengal, from the early 1970s, according to ISKCON’s child-protection office, which says he had personal association with A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada. The office described him as having “played leading roles in preaching to life members in India” and as having developed expertise “in dealing with all levels of the Indian government as well as with Western embassies in India”. He was a sannyasi in the early 1980s and later gave up sannyasa and married. In 1987 the GBC named him to the local construction committee in Mayapur. In 1991 he chaired the Mayapur Administrative Council, and he served as a regional secretary until the early 1990s.
In June 1999 the critic news site VNN reported that the GBC had chosen him to represent it in a case in the Calcutta High Court, filed on 25 March 1999 by reformers challenging ISKCON’s guru system, and that he was “the only individual named in their affidavit-in-opposition”. The affidavit itself has not been obtained.
The Temple of the Vedic Planetarium’s team page listed him under “Finance / Legals” from 2009 and under “Legal and Official Services” in 2011. In June 2017 the board of directors of ISKCON TOVP at Mayapur authorised him, as its Secretary (Legal & Official Relations), to deal with government and private authorities for the Temple of the Vedic Planetarium project.
His initiating guru and birth year are not confirmed in the sources reviewed.
Sources (5)
- [1]"Meet the Team", Temple of the Vedic Planetarium website (tovp.org): captures of 19 October 2009, 22 February 2015, 7 March 2016 and 15 March 2016, Oct 19, 2009 (document)
- [2]Official Decision of the ISKCON Central Office of Child Protection on the case of Satadhanya dasa, issued 25 January 2000, Jan 25, 2000 (document)
- [3]Certified copy of an ISKCON (ISKCON TOVP) board of directors resolution of 28 June 2017 authorising Satadhanya Dasa, Secretary (Legal & Official Relations), to deal with authorities for the Temple of the Vedic Planetarium, Jun 28, 2017 (document)
- [4]VNN – Vaishnava News Network, Notorious Pedophile To Defend ISKCON In Calcutta High Court (Vishnumurti Das) — critic news site; VNN4145, Jun 22, 1999
- [5]ISKCON GBC, GBC Resolutions 1987 — local construction committees for Vrindaban and Mayapur, 1987 · copy on this site
Record
1 entry · most established firstSexual abuse of boys in Mayapur and Calcutta
ISKCON's Central Office of Child Protection found in January 2000 that Satadhanya, while a sannyasi in Mayapur and Calcutta in the early 1980s, committed "severe and prolonged child sexual abuse", and that he had persistently suppressed "the names and extent of abuse" of the two known underage victims for 9 and 18 years. The panel heard that the abuse of those two began when they were about 11 and 13. He admitted sexual contact with four young people but said it was consensual; where his account differed from the victims', the panel believed the victims.
The decision records that the matter was raised with him by the ISKCON Board of Education in 1991, that Mayapur residents voted on whether he could remain in the community in 1992, and that in March 1995 the GBC required a psychological risk assessment before he could live on ISKCON Mayapur property. The decision also records that “in January, 1993, and at other times, the Mayapur GBC Committee expressed the opinion that Satadhanya dasa was punished sufficiently by being dishonored and being forced to give up his position as regional secretary”; the GBC had named that committee’s four members in 1992: Bhakticaru Swami, Harikesa Swami, Jayapataka Swami and Naresvara das (GBC 1992, res. 63). The GBC’s published resolution reads: “THAT to live on ISKCON property, Satadhanya dasa must first have a ‘risk assessment.’ If he receives a ‘low to no risk’ approval, he can live on ISKCON Mayapur property” (GBC 1995, res. 57). The panel found that the protection given to him by Mayapur managers “went beyond what can be explained by naivete, ignorance, or simple forgiveness”, and recommended that ISKCON Mayapur apologise to the victims and contribute to restitution.
Separately, the team that investigated abuse at the Mayapur gurukula in 1991 reported that Satadhanya, then chairman of the Mayapur Administrative Council, said on at least two occasions that “too much was being made of the investigation and that these activities were normal in a boy’s school”; the ISKCON Board of Education repeated this in August 1991. His reply to that report has not been found.
In June 1999 the critic news site VNN reported that the GBC had chosen him to represent it in a case in the Calcutta High Court and that he was “the only individual named in their affidavit-in-opposition”, filed shortly after the GBC’s April 1999 announcement of new funding for child protection. VNN quoted the 1995 resolution and asked why the GBC had entrusted the case to him. The affidavit itself has not been obtained, and no GBC response has been found.
- 1992AdmittedPartial. In a letter to the ISKCON Board of Education he admitted three incidents with an underage victim and wrote: "I have no real excuse for having left out the above name in my previous letter to you." In April 1991 he had described a "falldown" about nine years earlier, as a sannyasi, involving two persons he then said were 25 and 23.
- 1999AdmittedQuestioned about a further accuser, he wrote: "The allegations are true. As a sannyasi, being celibate, I became sexually agitated … The same thing was repeated several times."
- 2000ISKCON findingOfficial Decision of the ISKCON Central Office of Child Protection; not published by the office.
Banned from ISKCON properties and projects in Mayapur and Calcutta for ten years from 1 March 2000. He was required to write detailed apology letters to the four victims, sent through the office, and to pay each of three victims at least $1,000 a year for five years. For life: no leadership position, kirtan or class; no "position of influence" in ISKCON or affiliated organizations, including representing ISKCON "to an embassy or to any governmental entity"; no residing on ISKCON property; no service involving minors. Whether he complied with or appealed the decision has not been found. A certified copy of a resolution of the board of directors of ISKCON (ISKCON TOVP), Sri Mayapur, passed on 28 June 2017, authorised "Mr. Satadhanya Dasa, Secretary (Legal & Official Relations)" to submit papers "to various government or private authorities" to obtain approvals for the Temple of the Vedic Planetarium project; he signed it as accepted on 1 July 2017. No criminal case has been found.
He denied using force or intimidation and said the incidents were consensual ("There was no FORCE and no ORDER", October 1999), and called one victim's statement "ghost-written". In November 1999 he wrote: "I especially beg forgiveness from those who I mindlessly victimized". [1]
Sources (7)
- [1]Official Decision of the ISKCON Central Office of Child Protection on the case of Satadhanya dasa, issued 25 January 2000, Jan 25, 2000 (document) original
- [2]ISKCON GBC, GBC Resolutions 1992 — res. 63 ("The ISKCON Mayapur GBC Committee shall be Bhakticaru Swami, Harikesa Swami, Jayapataka Swami, and Naresvara das"), 1992 originalcopy on this site
- [3]Mayapur Gurukula Child Molestation — Report of Ad-hoc Committee — Appendix B; internal ISKCON report, July 1991; later published by the Facebook group Vedic Inquirer – Advancing Child Protection, July 1991
- [4]Letter from the ISKCON Board of Education to Bhaktividya Purna Swami and Naresvara das on the Mayapur investigation report, Aug 12, 1991 (document) original
- [5]Certified copy of an ISKCON (ISKCON TOVP) board of directors resolution of 28 June 2017 authorising Satadhanya Dasa, Secretary (Legal & Official Relations), to deal with authorities for the Temple of the Vedic Planetarium, Jun 28, 2017 (document) original
- [6]ISKCON GBC, GBC Resolutions 1995 — res. 57 (risk assessment before Satadhanya dasa may live on ISKCON property), 1995 originalcopy on this site
- [7]VNN – Vaishnava News Network, Notorious Pedophile To Defend ISKCON In Calcutta High Court (Vishnumurti Das) — critic news site; VNN4145, Jun 22, 1999 original
People affected
1 people affected · 0 died- Four boys and young men, Calcutta and Mayapur, 1981–1984ISKCON's child-protection office found in 2000 that Satadhanya dasa committed "severe and prolonged child sexual abuse". He admitted sexual contact with four people; three who gave statements said the abuse began when they were about 11, 13 and 18. The office recommended that Mayapur's managers apologise to them in writing Abused.ConnectionISKCON finding
Timeline
Each status change in this record, on one axis, with the periods of the cases Satadhanya Dasa is involved in.
- 1992
- AdmittedMar 29, 1992 Sexual abuse of boys in Mayapur and Calcutta Partial. In a letter to the ISKCON Board of Education he admitted three incidents with an underage victim and wrote: "I have no real excuse for having left out the above name in my previous letter to you." In April 1991 he had described a "falldown" about nine years earlier, as a sannyasi, involving two persons he then said were 25 and 23.
- 1999
- AdmittedAugust 1999 Sexual abuse of boys in Mayapur and Calcutta Questioned about a further accuser, he wrote: "The allegations are true. As a sannyasi, being celibate, I became sexually agitated … The same thing was repeated several times."
- 2000
- ISKCON findingJan 25, 2000 Sexual abuse of boys in Mayapur and Calcutta Official Decision of the ISKCON Central Office of Child Protection; not published by the office.