By Rhett Watson


HE had been celibate almost his entire life but when a Buddhist monk finally decided to break his vow by going with a prostitute he managed to pick an undercover police officer.

Hoa Trung Nguyen, 47, from the Phap Bao Temple in Sydney's Cabramatta, even haggled with the would-be prostitute for a better deal on "full sex".

But after being unceremoniously bundled into an unmarked police car, Nguyen claimed he was joking. Following a four-hour hearing at Liverpool Court yesterday, Magistrate Ronald Maiden was not laughing as he convicted the monk for soliciting a prostitute.

"The accused's version of events, in my view, borders on farcical," he said.

"It is quite fantastic."


Nguyen is now on a 12-month bond.

Cabramatta police were running an undercover operation on August 7 to stop prostitution in Fisher St, a residential area.

CCTV footage showed Nguyen, his robes under an overcoat, approaching the officer dressed as a prostitute.

Nguyen: "How much?"

Officer: "Do you want full sex?"

Nguyen: "Yes."

Officer: "$50"

Nguyen, after haggling the price down to $40: "Let's go."

Police then arrested him.

Nguyen admitted asking about price but blamed it on human curiosity.

"I only want to ask her as a joke because of who I am. I would never do anything like that."

Police prosecutor Sgt Phil Donato said Nguyen's version was "implausible".

Legal Aid solicitor George Breton said there was "certain scope of misinterpretation of what he was saying" because Nguyen did not speak English well and that he only had $20 to $23 on him anyway.

"I'm not saying they [police] lied ... they simply got it wrong," Mr Breton told the court.

Magistrate Maiden, however, disagreed.

Herald Sun

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