Report estimates 700 to 1,500 children were victims of sadism and torture at Notre-Dame-de-Bétharram Catholic school

An investigation by the Institut Louis Joinet (IFDJ), released on Saturday 20 June, has concluded that the Notre-Dame-de-Bétharram Catholic school and other institutions run by the same congregation were the scene of “mass crimes” between 1950 and the late 1990s. The report estimates that between 700 and 1,500 children suffered sexual, physical or psychological violence, describing a “system of institutional violence” sustained by fear, shame and domination.

Decades of systemic violence

The inquiry, commissioned by the religious congregation itself and carried out over more than a year, identified 37 perpetrators (religious and lay). The IFDJ, an NGO usually focused on transitional justice in conflict zones, dismissed the theory that the abuse was a mere “addition of individual acts” and pointed to an organised dynamic of “mass crimes”.

“Within these walls, violence of exceptional gravity occurred, which can be likened to sadism and torture.”

Practices included high-pressure water jets, sexual abuse, beatings, and children stripped naked near a freezing watercourse. The report says a “well-oiled” institutional violence system lasted for decades through silencing mechanisms built on fear, shame and domination.

Alerts ignored, reputation protected

Scattered and fragmented warnings from victims and their families were perceived as “hardly credible” locally, the investigators note. The school’s reputation, the attachment of many former pupils, and the prestige of religious authority shielded the establishment. The IFJD highlights a “general failure of oversight mechanisms” by both the Church and the state.

Political fallout

The scandal gained national prominence after it emerged that the children of former prime minister François Bayrou attended the school. Bayrou, a figure in local politics, has been accused of knowing about the abuse without intervening, allegations he has always denied.

On 1 June 2026, the French National Assembly unanimously adopted a first-reading bill on school violence, directly prompted by the Bétharram affair. The text strengthens vetting of adults in contact with children and tightens regulation of private schools, though it stops short of lifting the seal of confession for clergy.

Congregation responds

During the report’s presentation, Gustavo Eduardo Agin, superior general of the Brothers of Bétharram, asked “forgiveness from all victims, as well as from the Church and society as a whole” on behalf of the congregation and condemned the acts “with the greatest firmness.”

Legal time limit

Approximately 250 complaints have been filed, but most are time-barred due to the age of the facts. Only two men (one lay person and one member of the clergy) have been placed under formal investigation. For victims, the report recommends organising a “citizens’ tribunal” to acknowledge the harm, given that criminal prosecution is largely impossible.