French PM failed to act on abuse at boarding school, report says

The French prime minister, François Bayrou, failed to act to prevent physical and sexual abuse at a private Catholic school in south-west France when he served as education minister between 1993 and 1997, a parliamentary report has said.

- Angelique Chrisafis

The damning report, issued by French lawmakers yesterday, comes after a long parliamentary inquiry into allegations of decades of physical abuse, rape and sexual assault at the Notre-Dame de Bétharram boarding school near Pau in south-west France.

The lawmakers also heard from survivors' groups from many other schools across France, describing how children had been subjected to "monstrous and terrible crimes".

The report found what it called "persistent" violence in public and private schools across France and accused the state of failing to act.