Surgeon goes on trial over sexual assault of 299 children across 25 years

France’s largest child abuse trial is underway – 299 victims, most of them children, all allegedly raped or sexually abused by one doctor. Joël Le Scouarnec, dubbed ‘France’s worst ever paedophile,’ is accused of abusing young patients across 10 hospitals and clinics over the span of 25 years.

The 74-year-old does not deny the allegations, though claims that he does not remember everything. Some victims have no memory of the assaults, having been unconscious at the time. They are made up of 158 men and 141 women who had an average age of 11 when they were allegedly attacked in hospitals across the country.

The youngest was just four when repeatedly molested by Le Scouarnec, it is claimed. Back in 2005, he was handed a suspended four-month prison sentence for possessing child pornography, but managed to secure a job as a surgeon at a public hospital in Quimperle, western France, the following year.

He continued to work in public hospitals until his re-arrest 12 years later on suspicion of raping his six-year-old neighbour. She told her parents that ‘the man with a crown of white hair’ had exposed himself and sexually touched her through a broken garden fence.

Police searched his home, uncovering a cache of dolls, wigs and 300,000 pictures and 650 paedophilic, zoophilic and scatological videos. Notebooks where Le Scouarnec detailed his sexual assaults on scores of patients were also found. In one handwritten note hidden under a mattress, the doctor is alleged to have written: ‘I am a paedophile and I always will be.’.

In 2020, he was found guilty of the rape and sexual assault of a neighbour, as well as two of his nieces and a four-year-old patient, and sentenced to 15 years in jail. Following further investigations into the alleged victims logged on his files, prosecutors eventually charged him with the aggravated rape and sexual assault of 299 people.

Francois, a plaintiff in the case who was 12 when Le Scouarnec allegedly abused him, said he hoped the case would provide much-needed answers. ‘I feel betrayed by authorities,’ said Francois, who asked to be identified only by this name. ‘Why did nobody stop this surgeon from working with children?’.

His crimes are said to have driven some patients to suicide, sparked drug and alcohol dependency in others and destroyed relationships. The victims and their families want the authorities, who they say should have stopped Le Scouarnec earlier, to answer for the scandal.

‘There is no way that somebody can rape and assault children for all those years without the knowing of people around. No way,’ said Homayra Sellier, head of rights group Innocence in Danger, which is supporting 40 alleged victims and is a plaintiff in the case.

For emotional support, you can call the Samaritans 24-hour helpline on 116 123, email jo@samaritans.org, visit a Samaritans branch in person or go to the Samaritans website. Their HOPELINE247 is open every day of the year, 24 hours a day. You can call 0800 068 4141, text 88247 or email: pat@papyrus-uk.org.

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