Authorities in Mayenne are examining abuse allegations linked to Lasallian schools. A complaint against a teacher was filed as early as 1980, the Laval prosecutor’s office said.
The French congregation of the Brothers of the Christian Schools acknowledged that it had no formal process in the past for handling abuse disclosures or supporting people who may have been victimised. Its statement came as Catholic Lasallian schools in the Mayenne department face allegations of rape and sexual assault.
The Laval prosecutor’s office confirmed that a complaint was filed in 1980 against a lay teacher at the La Salle school in Laval. He was accused of rape and sexual assault. Six other victims were identified during the legal proceedings. Franceinfo reported that the teacher was suspended in 1980 and died in 1989. Congregation representative Christophe Vaissière said the order had no record of the complaint and that one person came forward to it in 2022.
The MVR association, which represents victims of Lasallian institutions, also identified Brother Charles, a former director of the Saint-Joseph boarding school in Évron from 1949 to 1954, as an alleged abuser. The congregation said it had received one victim and signed a compensation protocol.
Vaissière said the order did not seek to minimise the findings, acknowledging that a child abused in one of its schools had been denied the protection they were entitled to. He said an independent recognition and redress commission was being set up. The congregation said 83 people had contacted its listening service since 2022 and 78 had received compensation. MVR said it had identified 380 victims. A separate France Inter investigation in February reported allegations from former pupils at around 20 Lasallian schools across France.