German police remove 40 children from controversial religious sect

About 100 police officers raided two communities belonging to a Christian sect in the southern German state of Bavaria on Thursday and removed 40 children due to evidence of ongoing child abuse.

The children from the town of Deiningen were temporarily handed into the care of foster families as there was "new evidence pointing to significant and ongoing child abuse by the members," local media quoted officials as saying.

The Christian group "The Twelve Tribes" follows teachings in the Old and New Testaments as God's direct word, believing in discipline in children's education and spank children when they are disobedient. The sect does not send children to public schools, but the Bavarian state withdrew its education license in July due to a lack of suitable teachers.

Local officials told Spiegel Online that the authorities had received concrete information that the "physical and emotional welfare of the children could be permanently compromised."

A spokesman for the Bavarian state education ministry also told Augsburger Allgemeine newspaper that Thursday's action has nothing to do with the subject of compulsory education.