Calls have been made to launch an independent inquiry into allegations of child sex abuse by Roman Catholic priests at a boarding school in the Netherlands.

MPs from the Labour party and the conservative VVD say they want the inquiry, which relates to allegations dating back to the 1960s and 1970s.

Evidence of sexual abuse by priests of the Salesian order at the school in the town of 's-Heerenberg came to light in research carried out by Radio Netherlands Worldwide and daily NRC Handelsblad. Scores of people got in touch with RNW and NRC to tell their childhood stories of suffering sexual abuse. A Roman Catholic helpline got more calls than usual about child abuse at several institutions. "We've stopped counting them," a spokesperson for the helpline told reporters.

Too long ago
Conservative MP and former public prosecutor Fred Teeven told NOS Radio, "Normally in such cases, there would be a police and justice investigation. But you can't do that now because the statute of limitation says the crimes are too long ago. In this case it would be wise if a team of experienced sex crime detectives is appointed in collaboration with the Roman Catholic Church, in order to conduct an independent investigation into what happened."

Following the revelations on Friday, Bishop Van Luijn of Rotterdam also said he wanted to launch an investigation. Bishop Van Luijn is currently chairman of the Dutch bishops conference. He was a teacher at the 's-Heerenberg school at the time of the abuse and he later became head of the Salesian order in the Netherlands. Immediately after the revelations a spokesperson from the bishop's palace turned down pleas for an inquiry, saying that it was up to the current head of the school to account for what may have happened, but Bishop Van Luijn said on Sunday he was appalled by the findings of the reporters.

Bishop wants inquiry too
Christian Democrat MP Marleen De Pater told NOS Radio that she first wants to see the results of Bishop Van Luijn's inquiry before deciding on the next step. She appeared reluctant to involve the police or legal authorities from the outset.

Ms De Pater said, "Bishop Van Luijn is taking the initiative to scrutinise his own organisation to find out what happened. That is a display of responsible behaviour, and I assume he will engage independent experts. On the basis of their findings we could decide whether more research is needed with the involvement of police and legal authorities."

Other churches
Half a year ago, Dutch TV programmes reported about sexual abuse by Protestant and Catholic church officials, which led to a critical discussion over the way such cases were often handled internally. In the ensuing discussion, Labour MP Kadijah Arib said that in the interest of the victims, every case of sexual abuse should be reported to the police, rather than being covered up by an internal church procedure.

© Radio Netherlands Worldwide

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