Celibate monk asked undercover prostitute for sex

[Champ]

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."

http://www.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,4057,11574670%255E13762,00.html

[Wickerman]

1. Gosh, Monks are entitled to a sense of humor

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."