Probe launched into physical, sexual violence claims at French Catholic school

By Ilayda Cakirtekin

ISTANBUL (AA) – A preliminary investigation was launched following complaints of physical and sexual violence at a Catholic school in southwestern France, according to reports.

The investigation was opened after 13 complaints were filed regarding physical and sexual violence by former students of Saint-Francois-Xavier Middle School in the southwestern Pyrenees-Atlantiques department, regional news outlet ici Pays Basque reported Friday.

The students filed the complaints on April 10, alleging physical and sexual violence between 1960 and 2005.

While 10 of the complaints concern physical violence, three are related to sexual violence.

A total of 197 former students, who claim to have been victims of this violence, also created a Facebook group to raise their voice, especially after the Notre-Dame-de-Betharram case, where priests and supervisors at the Catholic boarding school are the subject of around 100 complaints related to violence, sexual assault, and rape that allegedly took place between the 1970s and 1990s.