German police have raided a Christian sect, taking away 40 children, alleging that they had been beaten and abused, according to reports.
More than 100 police targeted two locations of "The Twelve Tribes"
in the southern German
state of Bavaria, the local Augsburger Allgemeine and Spiegel Online said.
The dawn raids followed "new evidence pointing to significant and ongoing
child abuse by the members", local officials were quoted as saying.
In all, police withdrew from the community's custody 28 children from one
monastery near the town of Deiningen and 12 from a second location,
Woernitz.
The children were temporarily handed into the care of foster families.
Witnesses to the raids were quoted as saying the police had met no resistance
from the Christian group, which denied the allegations.
Spiegel Online quoted local officials as saying a family court and youth
office had received "credible, concrete and actionable information"
that the "physical and emotional welfare of the children could be
permanently compromised".
The US-founded Twelve Tribes said in an online statement: "We are an open and transparent community that does not tolerate any form of child abuse. Our children grow up in a loving environment and are educated in the spirit of charity."
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