Almost 550 German choir boys allegedly abused over 70 years, new report says
foto: Pope Benedict XVI attends a concert by the Regensburger Domspatzen boys choir at the Sistine Chapel, on October 22, 2005.
As many as 547 former students of the Catholic Regensburger Domspatzen choir school in Germany were abused physically, and in some cases sexually, over a period of 70 years, an independent report has alleged.
The 440-page report, commissioned by the Regensburg diocese, found a culture of violence across the school, from pre-school classes, for children aged from 8 to 11, to boarding houses for older children, allegedly committed from 1945 until the report was commissioned in 2015.
"Pre-school victims of the Regensburg Domspatzen in (the towns of) Etterzhausen and Pielenhofen described the institution as a prison, hell and a concentration camp," the report's co-author lawyer Ulrich Weber said at a press conference Tuesday.
Of 547 students, 500 said they had been the victims of physical violence, such as beatings, while another 67 said they had been the victims of sexual abuse. Some had experienced both.