PM François Bayrou Faces Renewed Scrutiny as Daughter Speaks Out on Catholic School Abuse Scandal

 Paris | April 24, 2025 — French Prime Minister François Bayrou is under mounting pressure after his daughter publicly revealed that she was a victim of abuse at a private Catholic school at the centre of a widening sexual abuse scandal that has rocked France.

In an interview with Paris Match, Hélène Perlant, 53, disclosed that she was brutally beaten by a senior priest at the Notre-Dame de Bétharram school during a summer camp in the 1980s, when she was just 14. “He beat me in front of the other children,” she said. Perlant noted that she never informed her father of the incident at the time.

The revelations have intensified scrutiny over Bayrou’s longstanding ties to the institution, which has been the focus of months of growing allegations involving decades of violence and sexual abuse. The controversy is casting a long shadow over the Prime Minister's credibility and judgment as questions mount over whether he was aware of the abuse and failed to take action.

Bayrou, a former Minister of Education and a prominent political figure in the south-west region where the school is located, had deep personal and familial connections to Bétharram. Three of his children attended the school, and his wife was a catechism teacher there. He has consistently denied any prior knowledge of abuse allegations.

Adding to the controversy, Alain Hontangs, a former investigator, testified under oath that in 1998 he was told by a judge that an investigation into a rape allegation involving a former school principal was being delayed due to Bayrou's intervention. The judge in question, Christian Mirande, acknowledged discussing the case with Bayrou but said he could not recall relaying any such delay to Hontangs. However, he stated before the commission that he had no reason to doubt Hontangs’ version of events.

In response to mounting media attention, Bayrou told reporters, “I have never intervened in any legal case.”

The Prime Minister is scheduled to appear before the parliamentary commission investigating the scandal on May 14. His testimony is expected to be a critical moment in the ongoing inquiry, which has already stirred national outrage and prompted calls for accountability across France’s political and religious institutions.

As the scandal continues to unfold, it has struck a chord with the French public and reignited a national conversation on the responsibilities of leaders and the deep-seated culture of silence surrounding abuse within powerful institutions.