The public prosecution department believes the death of 37 handicapped youths at a Catholic residential home between 1952 and 1954 may be the result of ‘criminal actions’ by a single monk, the organisation said in a statement on Thursday.

Brother Andreas was the sole carer of the youths who died in suspicious circumstances, the public prosecutor said, following a inquiry into events at the home.
In addition, local church officials were informed about the suspicions in 1959 but did nothing, the department said. Labour inspectors, who alerted the church authorities, also failed to report their findings to the police, the department said.
No qualifications
At the time, the unqualified Andreas was responsible for some 20 youths at the home, which had some 450 residents. The deaths stopped when Andreas was transferred to another home.
The home’s doctor certified all the deaths as natural, even though he knew Andreas was unqualified and did not know what had killed the boys, the Volkskrant said. There are also claims the doctor blamed the deaths on ‘stupid brother Andreas’ who administered too much morphine.
One monk who was at the home while Andreas worked there said he could not believe the children were deliberately killed.
Brother Polycarpus told the NRC Andreas may have not looked after the children as well as he could. ‘But murder? No, not that,’ Polycarpus said.
It is not clear what the implications of the reports findings will be. The investigation was set up after rumours of unlawful deaths emerged during a major probe into the sexual abuse of children in Catholic institutions.
The Deetman commission reported in December at least 800 Roman Catholic priests and monks were involved in abusing children in their care between 1945 and 1985.