© The Independent, UK
German police have raided the properties of a little-known Christian fundamentalist sect in the state of Bavaria and removed 40 children amid mounting allegations of persistent child abuse.
State prosecutors today launched a detailed investigation into the activities of the secretive religious community.
Twenty-eight children were taken away from a property belonging to the "Twelve Tribes" sect in the village of Deiningen in a dawn raid early on Thursday.
A further 12 children were removed from another of the sect's community homes in a nearby village.
Bavarian state prosecutors said they had ordered the raids because they had received reports from former sect members alleging cases of persistent child abuse within the sect's communities.
"There were clear signs of physical punishment and psychological abuse," said Helmut Beyschlag, the Bavarian court spokesman who is also leading the investigation.
He said the evidence included reports that sect members used "willow rods" to beat children and that young people were forcibly isolated for "weeks and months" as a form of punishment .