Police now investigating Swiss Catholic sexual abuse
Valais police tasked with investigating abuse cases The public prosecutor's office in Valais has opened a preliminary investigation in connection with possible sexual assaults in the environment of the Catholic Church. The cantonal police have been instructed to investigate "possible criminal offences in Valais that are not statute-barred or have already been dealt with in the report on the pilot project on the history of sexual abuse in the environment of the Roman Catholic Church in Switzerland since the mid-20th century". For the accused persons, the presumption of innocence applies during the preliminary proceedings. The pilot study by the University of Zurich was commissioned by three Catholic bodies, including the Swiss Bishops' Conference (SBK). The researchers counted 1002 cases of sexual abuse since the middle of the 20th century. In their view, this is only the tip of the iceberg, as most cases were not reported and the documents destroyed. 19 cases since 20
