Over 200 Members of German Choir Were Abused, Investigator Says

Pope Benedict XVI with the Regensburg choir in Bavaria in 2006. The former pope’s brother conducted the choir from 1964 to 1994, a period that coincides with accusations of abuse. CreditBernd Weissbrod/European Pressphoto Agency

BERLIN — At least 231 children who sang in a boys’ choir led for 30 years by the brother of former Pope Benedict XVI were abused over a period of almost four decades, a lawyer investigating reports of wrongdoing said Friday.

The lawyer, Ulrich Weber, who was commissioned by the choir to look into accusations of beatings, torture or sexual abuse, said he thought that the actual abuse was even more widespread.

At a news conference in Regensburg, Bavaria, where the choir traces its roots to the year 975, Mr. Weber estimated that from 1953 to 1992, every third member of the choir and an attached school suffered some kind of physical abuse.

READ MORE:http://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/09/world/europe/over-200-members-of-german-choir-were-abused-investigator-says.html?_r=0