Particle.news
Download on the App Store
5 ARTICLES
·
last mo.

Victims Submit Final Complaints in Bétharram Abuse Case, Total Reaches 217

Survivors warn the underresourced Pau prosecutor’s office requires additional magistrates to proceed.

Alain Esquerre, porte-parole du collectif des victimes de Bétharram en avril dernier. Le collectif a déposé mercredi 23 juillet 2025 un septième et « probable dernier » corpus de 17 plaintes auprès du parquet du Pau.
Image
Quinze pères bétharramites et quatre laïcs sont visés par des plaintes, ainsi que trois anciens élèves, mineurs au moment des faits.

Overview

  • On July 23, the Collectif des victimes de Bétharram filed its seventh and likely final batch of 17 complaints with the Pau public prosecutor, bringing the total to 217.
  • Allegations cover physical violence, torture, sexual assault and rape by 15 priests (almost all deceased) and four lay staff at Notre-Dame de Bétharram between 1957 and 2004.
  • Only two of these complaints fell within the statute of limitations and led to a February 21 indictment of a former supervisor for sexual assault and rape of minors.
  • The collective has urged Prime Minister François Bayrou and judicial authorities to appoint more magistrates and investigators to accelerate the probe.
  • Only two detectives have been assigned to the sprawling inquiry, leaving dozens of complainants from earlier filings without interviews.