The former Pope Benedict XVI admitted he provided false information to a German inquiry into clerical sexual abuse cases.

According to The Guardian, a report was released by the German law firm conducting the investigation that stated, “that Benedict had failed to take action against four priests accused of child sexual abuse when he was Archbishop of Munich.”

The report of the entire investigation, “Sexual abuse of minors and adult wards by clerics and full-time employees in the Archdiocese of Munich and Freising from 1945 – 2019,” is 1,900 pages long.

The German law firm handling the cases says that Benedict failed to take action four different times, including two that resulted in legal charges. NPR reported that there were at least 497 victims of abuse in the church from 1945 to 2019. Of the 497 abused, 60% of the victims were between the ages of eight and 14. There were 247 male victims, 182 female victims and there were 235 perpetrators of abuse, including 173 priests.

When questioned about a meeting in 1980 where the Munich church leaders accepted the transfer of an abusive priest, Benedict denied being present. However, the minutes from the 1980 meeting proved that he was present. He resigned from the papacy in 2013, making him the first pope to step down in almost 600 years, according to NPR.

The Washington Post states that church policies have been developed preventing men from becoming priests if they have abused a minor, and such cases of abuse must be reported to the authorities.