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Radio France Internationale
Radio France Internationale
National
RFI

Why Catholic school sexual abuse scandal is plaguing France’s prime minister

François Bayrou Francois Bayrou France Olivier Faure Sexual Abuse Pau
Protesters outside Pau city hall hold placards reading "Bayrou resign!" as the prime minister met members of the collective of victims of violence of Notre-Dame-de-Betharram Catholic secondary school. AFP - PHILIPPE LOPEZ

French Prime Minister François Bayrou has vowed to support an investigation into decades of alleged abuse at a Catholic school, following accusations from the left that he misled parliament by claiming he was unaware of the case while he was a local official and education minister. Pressure on Bayrou increased on Monday after a lawyer in his home town of Pau called for an investigation into alleged "obstruction of justice".

Bayrou has survived several votes of no-confidence since taking office in mid-December. But he now faces scrutiny over allegations of physical and sexual abuse at Notre-Dame de Bétharram – a Catholic boarding school in the Pyrenees where he sent several of his children.

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