THE French Catholic Church was branded “a disgrace to humanity” today after investigations found more than 200,000 children have been abused since 1950.

Jean-Marc Sauve, who headed the commission into sexual abuse, said the church had turned a blind eye and sometimes even put children in touch with their predators.

He said 2,700 victims had been found, but research and polling groups estimated that about 216,000 had been abused by clergy, a figure likely to rise to 330,000 when abuse by lay members of the church was included, Mr Sauve said.