Three men were taken into custody in France on Wednesday as part of a widening investigation into sexual abuse allegations at the Notre Dame de Betharram school, prosecutors said.
The men, born in 1931, 1955, and 1965, are suspected of aggravated rape and sexual assault, with alleged incidents spanning from 1957 to 2004, according to Pau prosecutor Rodolphe Jarry.
Authorities have received around 100 complaints regarding violence and sexual abuse at a Catholic school in southwestern France.
The case has cast a shadow over Prime Minister François Bayrou, who served as France’s education minister in the 1990s.
Some of his children attended the school, and he now faces accusations from political opponents of misleading parliament about his knowledge of the abuse.
Bayrou, 73, has denied any wrongdoing and recently met with former students, pledging to support the investigation.
However, with his fragile political standing—relying on Socialist backing to maintain his position—the scandal could pose a major threat to his leadership.
A survivors’ collective has so far recorded 132 complaints, with additional reports surfacing in recent days. Legal proceedings may face challenges due to the time elapsed since many of the alleged abuses occurred.
