Sexual Abuse at Blair Boys' School

L O N D O N, Dec. 5 -- British police were investigating child abuse allegations today following reports that pupils at a Roman Catholic school attended by Prime Minister TonyBlair’s teenage sons complained about a priest working there.

The latest embarrassment for Britain’s Catholic hierarchy, which is already embroiled in several similar cases of abuse, concerns David Martin, a priest and chaplain at the Oratory School in London before he died in 1998 aged 44.

“Allegations have been received by a Hammersmith and Fulham child protection team of potential abuse within a London school,” a Scotland Yard police spokeswoman said. “These allegations are being investigated.”

Local officials said that the allegations were made several weeks ago through anonymous letters and did not include specific details of abuse. The social services and police decided not to start a criminal investigation at the time.

But more details of the case later emerged through the children’s helpline Childline and from a letter where a pupil at the school was partly identified.

An inquiry was launched jointly between police and the social services despite the fact that Martin is dead.

“Child protection investigations are not just about bringing a prosecution against someone,” a social worker for the Hammersmith and Fulham council said. “They are also about providing support for alleged victims.”

More Embarrassment for Church

Blair and his Catholic wife Cherie send their boys Euan, 16, and Nicholas, who turns 15 on Wednesday, to the school, but there was no indication that either boy is involved in the investigation.

The Catholic Church, representing 4 million people in England and Wales, said it had passed on letters about the priest to its child protection officers and the authorities.

“Naturally the church is deeply concerned when any allegation is made against a priest, especially if there are any victims of abuse,” said a spokesman for the Westminster diocese, the church’s headquarters in Britain.