VANNES, France — A former surgeon is scheduled to face trial in France starting Monday for the alleged sexual assault and rape of 299 victims, primarily children who were his patients. Investigators and Le Scouarnec’s own notebooks reveal instances of abuse that have persisted for over thirty years.
Now aged 74, Joël Le Scouarnec will confront numerous victims in a trial that could last four months in Vannes, Brittany. If found guilty, he faces a potential sentence of 20 years in prison, which would be added to the 15 years he is already serving for previous convictions of child rape and sexual assault in 2020. Although he does not refute the allegations, he claims to have limited memories of the events, with some victims unable to recall the abuse as they were unconscious at the time.
This trial occurs amid increasing calls from activists to break the long-standing silence surrounding sexual abuse cases in France. One notable incident that caught public attention was the case of Gisèle Pélicot, a woman who was drugged and raped by her ex-husband and other men, leading to sentences ranging from three to twenty years for the convicted individuals last December.
In a show of solidarity, child protection and women’s rights organizations, as well as associations from the medical community, plan to demonstrate outside the courthouse on the day the trial commences.
The investigation against Le Scouarnec began in 2017 after a 6-year-old girl, a neighbor, alleged that he had inappropriately touched her through the dividing fence of their homes. A police search of his residence uncovered a disturbing trove of over 300,000 photographs, including 650 videos depicting pedophilia, bestiality, and scatology, along with notebooks in which he labeled himself a pedophile and recounted his actions.
In 2020, he was convicted for the rape and sexual abuse of four children, involving two of his nieces, and subsequently received a 15-year prison sentence. Although he did confess to some acts of child abuse from 1985-1986, certain offenses could not be prosecuted due to expiration of the statute of limitations.
The upcoming trial in Vannes will investigate alleged sexual assaults and rapes that took place from 1989 to 2014 against a total of 158 males and 141 females, most of whom were around 11 years old at the time of the incidents. Reports indicate that Le Scouarnec abused both boys and girls while they were isolated in their hospital rooms.
One victim, Amélie Lévêque, who was hospitalized at the age of 9 in 1991, recalled her experiences, stating, “I didn’t really remember the operation. I remembered the post-operation, a surgeon who was quite mean. I cried a lot.” Years later, Lévêque expressed her dismay upon discovering her name in Le Scouarnec’s notebooks. “That was the beginning of the answers to a lifetime of questions, and then it was the beginning of the descent into hell,” she reflected on the impact this revelation had on her life.
“I experienced profound depression… My family tried to support me, but I felt utterly alone,” she added, illustrating the emotional toll of the trauma she endured.
Le Scouarnec’s attorney, Thibaut Kurzawa, shared with local media that his client intends to “respond to the judges’ inquiries” as he comes to terms with the reality of his actions. Despite a previous conviction in 2005 for possessing and importing child pornography, which resulted in a suspended four-month sentence, he was still able to secure a position as a hospital practitioner the subsequent year.
Certain child protection organizations will participate as civil parties in the trial, aiming to advocate for stronger legal protections to prevent future abuses.
