At least 60 boys sexually abused at German choir run by Benedict XVI's brother

A lawyer commissioned by a famous German choir to investigate historic child abuse said that at least 231 boys were victims of physical abuse while 60 boys were sexually assaulted between 1964 and 1994.

But Ulrich Weber admitted that the abuse at the Domspatzen, a Catholic choir in Bavaria which was run at the time by Georg Ratzinger, the brother of pope emeritus Benedict XVI, may have been much more widespread.

"The reported cases of sexual abuse in Regensburg [Domspatzen] were mostly concentrated in the period of the mid-to-late1970s," Weber said. About 50 of the victims “spoke of 10 perpetrators", the lawyer said at a press conference.  

Georg Ratzinger, 86, who was choirmaster at Regensburger Domspatzen between 1964 to 1994, denied any knowledge of abuse. "These things were never discussed," Ratzinger told the German regional newspaper Passauer Neue Presse. "The problem of sexual abuse that has now come to light was never spoken of."

When asked during the press conference whether he believed that Ratzinger would have known about the abuse, Weber said: “After my research, I must assume so.”

Ratzinger this weekend told the Italian daily newspaper La Repubblica that he would cooperate and give evidence to any inquiry into sexual abuse at the school.

Most of those accused are unlikely to face criminal charges as the alleged crimes took place too long ago.

After the alleged abuse first came to light in 2010, the diocese had previously offered to pay 72 victims 2,500 euros each (About £1,800) in damages.

Weber said that now a six-person advisory board will be set up to investigate the claims further and will be made up from victims, two mediators, four members of the Foundation Board of the cathedral choir, the Vicar General and Bishop of Regensburg Rudolf Voderholzer.