French Inquiry Faults Bayrou for Inaction in Bétharram Abuse Scandal

A cross-party commission of the French National Assembly on Wednesday released a 330-page report concluding that successive authorities—and in particular Prime Minister François Bayrou during his tenure as education minister in the 1990s—failed to act on longstanding physical and sexual abuse at the Catholic boarding school Notre-Dame de Bétharram in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques. The deputies describe a “défaut d’action” by Bayrou and label the state apparatus “défaillant”, saying official inaction allowed violence to persist for decades.

The inquiry, launched in February after fresh revelations at Bétharram, gathered 135 testimonies and catalogued more than 200 complaints against at least 26 staff members. It forwarded 80 separate dossiers to prosecutors covering some 250 schools nationwide, noting that the risk of abuse is heightened in institutions with boarding facilities and in the private Catholic network.

The report puts forward 50 measures: creation of a state-backed fund to compensate and accompany victims, systematic honour-checks for all school staff and volunteers every three years, compulsory inspections of private schools at least once every five years, and annual audits for primary boarding establishments. It also urges lifting confession secrecy when minors under 15 are at risk and proposes a parliamentary mission on making certain child-abuse crimes imprescriptible.

Bayrou’s entourage rejected the accusation of inaction, citing an inspection he ordered in 1996, while Education Minister Élisabeth Borne said the ministry will assess whether to adapt its “Brisons le silence” plan in light of the findings. Victim groups welcomed the report but called for swift legislation to enshrine its recommendations.