Elite German school reports sexual abuse cases
BERLIN, Germany (AP) —The director of one of Germany’s most prestigious high schools says that several former students were sexually abused by teachers in the 1970s and 1980s.
Father Klaus Mertes says he has sent out 500 letters to alumni of Berlin’s private Catholic Canisius Kolleg to determine the extent of the case after seven ex-students recently reported they were abused. Canisius Kolleg is one of Germany’s pre-eminent schools, alma mater for many politicians, businesspeople and scientists.
Mertes said Thursday that the seven, and likely many more, were abused “systematically and over years” by two ex-teachers who were members of the Jesuit order.
Mertes said the teachers left the school in the late 1980s but were still alive and were contacted after the allegations surfaced.
