Surgeon accused of sexually abusing hundreds of children admits ‘heinous acts’

A retired French surgeon accused of sexually abusing nearly 300 patients, mostly children, has admitted to committing ‘heinous acts’. Joël Le Scouarnec, 74, appeared in the dock in the city of Vannes today, the first day of his trial, to say he was ready to ‘take responsibility’ for his deeds and that he was ‘perfectly aware that these wounds cannot be erased or healed’.

‘I owe it to all these people and their loved ones to admit my actions and their consequences, which they’ve endured and will keep having to endure all their lives’, he added. Le Scouarnec, who worked in various clinics across western France over 34 years, was jailed for 15 years in 2020 for the abuse of four children, including two of his nieces.

The latest trial is over allegations he sexually assaulted or raped 299 patients, the vast majority children. The average age of the alleged victims is said to be 11, with the youngest one and the oldest 70. A total of 256 of them were under the age of 15, and many have had to wait until adulthood to see him put on trial.

The alleged offences spanned a dozen hospitals betweeen 1989 and 2014, and many were said to take place as patients woke up from anaesthetic or during post-op checkups. ‘I’ve been waiting for this moment for a long time,” said one accuser, Amelie Leveque, 42, though she added she was ‘afraid’ to see Le Scouarnec in the flesh again.

A court heard the former doctor documented his crimes in notebooks, much like Dominique Pelicot, the French electrician who drugged his wife and recruited dozens of men to rape her. Le Scouarnec was said to have described himself as a ‘major pervert’ and that he was ‘very happy’ about being a ‘paedophile’.

He was convicted of possessing child pornography in 2005 and handed a suspended four-month jail sentence – but secured another job as a surgeon the following year. Court documents alleged some staff members at France’s health ministry were aware of the conviction.

Soon after he started the new job, a psychiatrist at his hospital reported concerns about his behaviour, according to the files. One accuser, named only as Francois, told the Reuters news agency: ‘Why did nobody stop this surgeon from working with children?’.

Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk. For more stories like this, check our news page. Arrow MORE: Surgeon goes on trial over sexual assault of 299 children across 25 years. Arrow MORE: Nearly 60 men and boys arrested for sexual assault and gang rape of girl.

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