Joel Le Scouarnec, 74, could die in prison if convicted of rape and serious sexual abuse of 229 people, most of them children, during his 25 years of medical practice in hospitals in north-west France.
A paedophile surgeon accused of raping scores of boys and girls appeared in court today as the biggest child sex abuse trial in French history began.
Horrible Joël Le Scouarnec, 74, is believed to be France's worst paedophile; he appeared at the Morbihan criminal court in the Breton town of Vannes on Monday afternoon. Dressed in a black jacket, the grey-haired divorcee emerged from his cell to confirm his name loud and clear. Le Scouarnec, already in custody for previous crimes, now faces charges relating to the sexual abuse of 299 victims.
Among them are 158 men and 141 women, with an average age of 11, when they were allegedly attacked in hospitals and other medical facilities across France. The youngest was just four years old when he was allegedly molested multiple times. All the accusations are made worse by the fact that he was a respected doctor – something some believe has allowed him to escape prosecution for so long.
He kept a twisted diary detailing names, ages and types of abuse he allegedly committed over 25 years in hospitals across northwest France. Every year on his birthday, he allegedly wrote in the diary: “I am a paedophile and I am proud of it.”
The diaries form the basis of the prosecution's case. The trial, taking place in the Breton city of Vannes, is the largest child sexual abuse case in France. However, this is not the first time Le Scouarnec has faced his victims in court. In 2020, he was sentenced to 15 years in prison after being found guilty of abusing four children.
During the current trial, which is expected to last until June, jurors will hear evidence from several of his now-adult victims. One of the alleged victims was nine years old when her family took her to hospital to have her appendix removed. While she was under anesthesia, he raped her.
“I remember crying a lot, I was so scared. I always associated him with the smell of lemon. So I remember that lemon smell and his hands touching parts of my body. All the sensations in my body came back,” she told RMC.
The average age of his victims was just 11, and boys and girls were said to be equally divided. In 2007, 10-year-old Mathis Vinet was taken to Quimperle hospital with stomach pains. The ailing surgeon told his father and grandfather that he would have to spend the night alone in the hospital, something they allegedly did not think twice about at the time.
Mathis was never the same again, his distraught relatives, who are expected to testify at his trial, told local media. He descended into drink and drugs and died of an overdose at the age of just 24 in 2021.
Questions have also been raised about how Le Scouarnec was offered a job at the Quimperlé state hospital despite having spent four months in prison in 2005 for possessing child pornography.
Le Scouarnec, who admits some of the charges against him, allegedly escaped punishment for his crimes for 30 years because of his status. The case calls into question the level of control France exercises over paedophiles in positions of power.
In 2020, Le Scouarnec was sentenced to 15 years in prison for sexually assaulting four minors. However, his conviction for possessing child pornography back in 2005 also raises questions.
This year, the American FBI (Federal Bureau of Investigation) carried out an operation that led to the first conviction
Sourse: www.mirror.co.uk
