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SCHOOL

Teacher probed over child abuse claims

A school teacher in north-west Italy is being investigated for sexually abusing pupils as young as ten, Italian media reported.

Teacher probed over child abuse claims
Prosecutors opened an investigation after parents of around ten pupils, aged ten to 14, reported the teacher for abuse. Classroom photo: Shutterstock

The 37-year-old teacher is being probed for allegedly mistreating pupils at Don Giorgio Belliardo school in Costigliole di Saluzzo, a village close to Turin.

Prosecutors opened an investigation after parents of around ten pupils, aged ten to 14, reported the teacher for abuse.

Responding to the news the village mayor, Milva Rinaudo, said she was “shocked” by the accusations. Rinaudo, a fellow teacher, said she had not been aware of any abuse allegations.

“I would not have hesitated to take the initiative and most appropriate action; other than a teacher I’m also a mother,” she was quoted in La Repubblica as saying.

“My thoughts are with the students: their protection always comes first. But for now,  while awaiting more specific information, I don’t know what to think,” the mayor said.

The investigation comes a year after a teacher from another school in the village was jailed for sexually abusing students. In a plea bargain Valter Giordano received a two-year prison sentence and a teaching ban for sexually abusing two of his students, La Repubblica reported.

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CATHOLIC CHURCH

At least 3,000 paedophiles active in French church since 1950: report

Thousands of paedophiles have operated inside the French Catholic Church since 1950, the head of an independent commission investigating the scandal told AFP, days ahead of the release of its report.

French archbishop Cardinal Philippe Barbarin leads his last mass,on June 28, 2020. Barbarin was released on appeal on January 30 for his silence on the sexual abuse of a priest, and resigned quickly afterwards.
French archbishop Cardinal Philippe Barbarin leads his last mass,on June 28, 2020. Barbarin was released on appeal on January 30 for his silence on the sexual abuse of a priest, and resigned quickly afterwards. Photo: Jeff Pachoud/AFP

The commission’s research had uncovered between 2,900 and 3,200 paedophile priests or other members of the church, said Jean-Marc Sauve, adding that it was “a minimum estimate”.

The commission’s report is due to be released on Tuesday after two and a half years of research based on church, court and police archives, as well as interviews with witnesses.

The report, which Sauve said runs to 2,500 pages, will attempt to quantify both the number of offenders and the number of victims.

It will also look into “the mechanisms, notably institutional and cultural ones” within the Church which allowed paedophiles to remain, and will offer 45 proposals.

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The independent commission was set up in 2018 by the French Catholic Church in response to a number of scandals that shook the Church in France and worldwide.

Its formation also came after Pope Francis passed a landmark measure obliging those who know about sex abuse in the Catholic Church to report it to their superiors.

Made up of 22 legal professionals, doctors, historians, sociologists and theologians, its brief was to investigate allegations of child sex abuse by clerics dating back to the 1950s.

When it began its work it called for witness statements and set up a telephone hotline, then reported receiving thousands of messages in the months that followed.

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