Germany rocked by sex abuse allegations
Source: Agencies |
February 26, 2010, Friday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
GERMAN prosecutors have opened investigations into allegations of sexual abuse at two Roman Catholic schools - the first legal action since reports of priests abusing students surfaced in January.
Senior prosecutor Andrea Titz in Munich is investigating claims of abuse against a member of a Benedictine-run boarding school in Ettal, Bavaria, her office said yesterday.
Barnabas Boegle, the abbot of the Ettal Monastery that runs the school, stepped down on Wednesday after eight former students said they had been abused by school priests in the 1950s, 70s and 80s.
News organizations also reported on Thursday that Bonn prosecutors are investigating the former director of the Jesuits' Aloisius Kolleg school. The prosecutor's office could not be reached for comment.
The daily paper Welt wrote that a student who is still enrolled at Aloisius Kolleg was allegedly abused in 2005 by former director Father Ludger Stueper. Several other Aloisius alumni have also accused Stueper of sexual abuse.
In addition, the number of students at several Catholic schools across Germany who claim they were sexually abused by priests has jumped to 150, a lawyer said.
Ursula Raue, an attorney appointed by the Jesuit Order to handle the charges, said that since seven alumni of the private Catholic Canisius Kolleg in Berlin first reported abuses in January, the accusations have "taken on a dimension of unbelievable proportions."
Raue said victims have identified 12 Jesuit priests by name and accused women in some cases.
The statute of limitations has lapsed on most cases, meaning they cannot be prosecuted.
Senior prosecutor Andrea Titz in Munich is investigating claims of abuse against a member of a Benedictine-run boarding school in Ettal, Bavaria, her office said yesterday.
Barnabas Boegle, the abbot of the Ettal Monastery that runs the school, stepped down on Wednesday after eight former students said they had been abused by school priests in the 1950s, 70s and 80s.
News organizations also reported on Thursday that Bonn prosecutors are investigating the former director of the Jesuits' Aloisius Kolleg school. The prosecutor's office could not be reached for comment.
The daily paper Welt wrote that a student who is still enrolled at Aloisius Kolleg was allegedly abused in 2005 by former director Father Ludger Stueper. Several other Aloisius alumni have also accused Stueper of sexual abuse.
In addition, the number of students at several Catholic schools across Germany who claim they were sexually abused by priests has jumped to 150, a lawyer said.
Ursula Raue, an attorney appointed by the Jesuit Order to handle the charges, said that since seven alumni of the private Catholic Canisius Kolleg in Berlin first reported abuses in January, the accusations have "taken on a dimension of unbelievable proportions."
Raue said victims have identified 12 Jesuit priests by name and accused women in some cases.
The statute of limitations has lapsed on most cases, meaning they cannot be prosecuted.
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
