A former surgeon has been sentenced to a maximum of 20 years in prison after being found guilty of raping or sexually abusing 299 victims – most of whom were his child patients – in France’s largest-ever child abuse trial.
Joel Le Scouarnec, 74, was accused of a pattern of violence spanning more than three decades, between 1989 and 2014, committed against 158 boys and 141 girls. The survivors were aged 11 on average and alone in their hospital rooms when he attacked them, with some unconscious at the time and so having no memory of the assaults.
The 74-year-old’s four-month trial began in February, and he admitted to all charges the following month. He previously told the court in Vannes: “I committed odious acts. They were only children… I am aware that these injuries are irreparable. I cannot go back in time, but I owe it to all of these people and their loved ones to take responsibility for my actions.”
Prosecutors sought a 20-year term as it is the maximum sentence for aggravated rape and under French law, sentences cannot be added together.
However state prosecutor, Stephane Kellenberger had also made the rare request for a post-sentence preventative detention order, saying there was “no way to verify” Le Scouarnec’s claim he no longer felt any sexual attraction to children.
He is already serving a 15-year sentence after being found guilty in 2020 of rape and sexual assault of four children, including two of his nieces.
Kellenberger said Le Scouarnec may face an additional trial in the future, after new allegations were raised in this trial including abuse involving his granddaughter.
Not all victims were initially aware they had been abused. Some were contacted by investigators after their names appeared in journals kept by Le Scouarnec, in which he meticulously documented his crimes.
One man, now in his 30s, told Le Scouarnec’s trial he was assaulted during a consultation in 1995 when he was a young boy. “I remember certain things in the recovery room. I was in total panic. I called my dad,” he told the court.
Despite the scope of the allegations, Le Scouarnec has remained calm and composed throughout the trial.
“I didn’t see them as people,” he told the court. “They were the destination of my fantasies. As the trial went on, I began to see them as individuals, with emotions, anger, suffering and distress.”
Le Scouarnec’s trial comes as activists are pushing to tackle taboos that have long surrounded sexual abuse in France.
The most prominent case was that of Gisèle Pelicot, who was drugged and raped by her now ex-husband and dozens of other men. The defendants were all convicted and sentenced in December to three to 20 years in prison, following a horrific three-month trial in Avignon.
Campaigners for the rights of women and children protested outside the courthouse before Le Scouarnec’s trial. Their placards read: “Impunity is over,” “We believe you” and “Silence Violence”.
Ms Pelicot’s lawyer Stéphane Babonneau told The Independent he believes the courageous example of his client, who has become a symbol in the struggle against sexual violence, inspired Le Scouarnec’s victims after she waived her anonymity in her case. Spokespeople for the appeals court in Rennes overseeing the case confirmed that some of the civil parties had expressed the wish to testify publicly.
The Le Scouarnec case began in 2017 when a six-year-old neighbour said the doctor had touched her over the fence separating their properties.
A search of his home uncovered more than 300,000 photos, 650 paedophilic, zoophilic and scatological video files, as well as notebooks where he described himself as a paedophile and detailed his actions, according to investigation documents.
He has also admitted to child abuse dating to 1985-1986, but some cases could not be prosecuted because the statute of limitations had expired.
Le Scouarnec had been convicted in 2005 for possessing and importing child sexual abuse material and sentenced to four months of suspended prison time.
Despite that conviction, he was appointed as a hospital practitioner the following year.
Some child protection groups had joined the proceedings as civil parties, saying they hoped to toughen the legal framework to prevent such abuse.
With additional reporting from AP. More follows on this breaking news story…
