Germany: independent investigator finds up to 700 abuse victims among Regensburg Domspatzen choirboys

Proceedings

1. 2017-07-18 · commissioned independent report

   Independent investigation commissioned by the Diocese of Regensburg. Special investigator Ulrich Weber presented his final report on 18 July 2017 after two years' work. He documented 547 identified victims of physical or sexual violence among the Domspatzen choirboys between 1945 and 2015, estimating a further undocumented ~700, with 500 total having suffered physical violence and 67 sexual violence. Of 49 perpetrators assessed as 'highly plausible,' 9 were found to have committed sexual abuse. The diocese paid over 4.3 million euros in compensation, more than 3.2 million of it to Domspatzen victims specifically.

Documented coercion mechanisms

• the boarding-school choir's closed residential structure under clerical and quasi-clerical authority
• diocesan and choir leadership's failure to act on known abuse