French Prime Minister François Bayrou vehemently denied any role in covering up decades of alleged abuse at a Catholic school in southwestern France, telling a parliamentary commission he had never been informed of wrongdoing.
The commission is examining whether Bayrou, who served as France’s education minister from 1993 to 1997 and held multiple local mandates in the area, had prior knowledge of widespread abuse claims.
More than 200 complaints have been filed since February 2024 over alleged violence and rape committed by priests and school staff between the 1970s and 1990s.
Under oath, Bayrou rejected the allegations and claimed he was never alerted to the abuse and accused opponents of using the affair for political gain.
He maintained that he only learned about the broader abuse claims through the press and had no insider information.
Bayrou further criticised the parliamentary commission for lacking objectivity, and questioned the testimony of former teacher Françoise Gullung, who claims to have warned him and his wife in 1994 and 1995, calling her statements “fallacious.”
However, his statements have been contradicted by several witnesses including former judge Christian Mirande, who handled a 1998 case involving Father Carricart, the school’s former director accused of rape.
Mirande told the commission that Bayrou visited him during the investigation and expressed concern for his son, a student at the school. Bayrou initially denied the meeting before later describing it as “fortuitous.”
Carricart was handed preliminary charges in 1998 but died by suicide before facing trial.
In April, Bayrou’s eldest daughter, Hélène Perlant, revealed she had been beaten by a priest at the school during a summer camp when she was 14.
She said her father had not known about the incident. Despite this, critics have accused Bayrou of lying to parliament, a serious offence under French law.
The Bétharram affair has dealt a significant blow to Bayrou’s credibility. Though he has survived several no-confidence votes in a divided parliament, his approval ratings have dropped steadily in recent weeks.
In a recent YouGov poll, nearly 7 out of 10 French people believe that the Prime Minister should resign if it is established that he knew about the affair at the time.
The parliamentary inquiry is expected to deliver its conclusions by late June.
