On Monday, a former surgeon named Joël Le Scouarnec, 74, went on trial in western France accused of raping or sexually assaulting 299 individuals over a span of 25 years. This case is considered the largest pedophilia case in French history. Most of the victims were former pediatric patients, with the average age being 11 at the time of the alleged abuse.

Le Scouarnec is accused of committing these crimes between 1989 and 2014, and they occurred in several private clinics and public hospitals in regions such as Indre-et-Loire, Brittany, and Charente-Maritime. The trial took place in the coastal town of Vannes, Brittany, where the accused was brought in by police officers at the start of the trial.

During the initial proceedings, Le Scouarnec, who was dressed in a black vest with a bald head and a ring of white hair on the sides, confirmed his name, date of birth, and other biographical details. The trial is expected to last almost four months.

This case is unprecedented in scale for Vannes and has required local court authorities to make arrangements for the large number of people involved. Additional facilities have been set up to hold the victims, their families, lawyers, and journalists who have traveled from far away to cover the trial, including those from Japan and Australia.

The local authorities have requisitioned a former law school building where the proceedings will be rebroadcasted in overflow rooms. Support services, including a psychologist and support dogs, will be available for victims. In France, victims can request to testify privately, so some days of the trial may not be open to the press and the public.

Le Scouarnec faces a maximum of 20 years in prison if convicted, as France does not have consecutive sentences. He denies some charges of rape but admitted to touching patients’ genitals during medical examinations. The rape charges pertain to penetration with fingers, which aligns with the definition of rape in France.

This trial comes after the verdicts in another highly publicized case in December where dozens of men, including the victim’s husband, were convicted of raping Gisèle Pelicot. This case, which opened shortly after the Pelicot verdict, is expected to spark further discussions about the prevalence of sexual crimes in France.

Many victims were either still under anesthesia or drowsy when the abuse occurred and did not recall the incidents until they were contacted by the police. Le Scouarnec has been convicted twice before. In 2005, he was found guilty of possessing child sexual abuse imagery, yet he was still allowed to continue treating children until he was arrested in 2017. In 2020, he was convicted of raping or sexually assaulting four children, including a neighbor and two nieces.

Following his arrest in 2017, investigators found detailed diaries and spreadsheets cataloging the names, ages, addresses, and accounts of the abuse suffered by victims.

Source: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/02/24/world/europe/france-surgeon-trial-patient-abuse-le-scouarnec.html