A former surgeon is set to go on trial in France on Monday, facing charges of raping or sexually assaulting nearly 300 former patients, the majority of whom were children.
Joel Le Scouarnec, 74, is currently incarcerated after being convicted in 2020 for abusing four children, including two of his nieces.
The upcoming trial, which will last four months, involves allegations that he assaulted or raped 299 patients, many of whom were in vulnerable states—either waking up from anesthesia or during follow-up checkups—at various hospitals from 1989 to 2014.
Out of the 299 victims, 256 were under the age of 15, with the youngest being just one year old and the oldest 70.
This trial is expected to be another shocking revelation for France, occurring only two months after Dominique Pelicot was found guilty of orchestrating the rape of his heavily sedated wife, Gisele Pelicot, who has since divorced him and become an advocate for feminism.
In this situation, Le Scouarnec is the only defendant accused of crimes against hundreds of victims.
The trial will take place in Vannes, located in the western Brittany region, and while it will be public, there will be seven days of closed-door testimony from minor victims.
If found guilty, Le Scouarnec could face a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison, as French law does not permit cumulative sentences for multiple victims.
Despite having been convicted in 2005 for possessing sexually abusive images of children and facing concerns from colleagues, the surgeon continued to practice for decades until his retirement.
In 2004, while working in Lorient, the FBI informed French authorities that he was among those in France consulting child sexual abuse images online.
Consequently, a court in Vannes sentenced him to a suspended four-month jail term the following year. However, he had already transitioned to another town, Quimperle, where he was promoted despite management being aware of his past conviction.
He later moved to southwestern France, where he continued to work until retiring in 2017.
Investigators uncovered his alleged crimes after his retirement when a six-year-old girl accused him of rape, leading police to discover accounts of abuse in his diaries.
Victims and child rights advocates argue that this case reveals systemic failures that allowed Le Scouarnec to commit sexual crimes repeatedly.
Frederic Benoist, a lawyer for the advocacy group La Voix de l’Enfant (The Child’s Voice), stated that the fact Le Scouarnec was never prohibited from practicing reflects a “collective failure.”
A separate investigation has been initiated by regional prosecutors regarding these failures, although it is not currently targeting any specific individual or institution.
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