Top-ranking monk resigns as Buddhist group head

China’s top Buddhist monk resigned on Wednesday as head of the country’s Buddhist association following accusations that he sexually abused female apprentices.

Xuecheng’s resignation was accepted during a meeting of the association on Wednesday, and the association’s vice president, Master Yanjue, will be temporarily in charge of the association, according to the Buddhist Association of China’s website.

The association did not state the reasons for Master Xuecheng’s resignation, but it came after he was accused of sexually harassing several nuns in early August, including sending illicit messages to them and forcing them to have sexual relations with him, according to a copy of a report written by monks Shi Xianjia and Shi Xianqi from Beijing’s Longquan Temple, where Xuecheng is the abbot.

Xuecheng, a member of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, China’s top political advisory body, wrote on his Sina Weibo on August 1 that the two whistleblowers “forged materials, distorted facts and spread false information” to mislead the public.

“The falsified evidence is based on a deliberate attempt to frame Master Xuecheng, and can be considered a crime,” the statement said.

A day after Xuecheng posted the statement, the National Religious Affairs Administration announced it would investigate the case.