GERMANY
Christian Today
Shianee Mamanglu-Regala 14 January 2016
More than 200 children at a famous choir school in Germany run by the brother of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI fell victim to physical and sexual abuse, an ongoing investigation into the decades-long Catholic Church scandal revealed.
The investigation is centred on the Domspatzen, the official choir at the Regensburg Central dedicated to St. Peter in Bavaria state, and two feeder schools between 1953 and 1992.
Investigators received additional allegations of sexual and physical assault by priests on the members of the boys choir, according to Ulrich Weber, a lawyer hired by the church to look into the scandal.
Weber told a news conference in Berlin last week that at least 50 of the 231 alleged victims made “plausible” claims of sexual abuse.
The alleged sexual abuse encompassed offences such as fondling and rape, while the reported physical abuse included beatings and the withholding of food. He said the victims named 10 perpetrators, Agence France-Presse reported.
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