A 74-year-old former surgeon was given a most 20-year prison sentence on Wednesday (May 28, 2025) by a French Court for the rape and sexual assault of hundreds of patients, largely kids, over greater than 20 years.
Joël Le Scouarnec was sentenced after admitting molesting practically 300 victims in one of the nation’s largest-ever baby intercourse abuse instances, which has raised questions on how he was in a position to abuse so many, for so lengthy.
Judges adopted the general public prosecutor’s suggestions concerning the size of the sentence, and the legal courtroom of Morbihan, in western France, ordered that Le Scouarnec ought to serve a minimum of two-thirds of the punishment earlier than he might be eligible for launch, as a result of he stays harmful.
But the Court didn’t impose a post-sentence preventive detention, prompting the anger of many victims.
Solène Podevin Favre, president of an advocacy group for baby victims of incest and different sexual crimes, expressed shock at a verdict “we might have expected to be less lenient,” lamenting that post-sentence preventive detention was not imposed.
“It’s the maximum sentence, certainly,” she mentioned. “But it’s the least we could have hoped for. Yet in six years, he could potentially be released. It’s staggering.”
Le Scouarnec, who has been jailed since 2017, is already serving a 15-year prison sentence, for a conviction in 2020 for the rape and sexual assault of 4 kids, together with two nieces. In French regulation, sentences run concurrently and Le Scouarnec ought to solely serve the extra years after the primary sentence is accomplished.
Post-sentence preventive detention is a measure not often used in France that applies to the nation’s most harmful offenders. Had it been accepted, Le Scouarnec may have been held indefinitely in a safe socio-medical facility, even after serving his time.
“The Court fully understood the requests from the civil parties that Mr. Le Scouarnec should never be released from prison. It would be demagogic and illusory to make them believe that this is possible,” the Court mentioned. “As things stand, the law does not allow it. And preventive detention, an exceptional measure, could in no way allow the Court to circumvent this reality.” Le Scouarnec’s lawyer mentioned his shopper will not enchantment the ruling.
The new trial started in February and laid naked a sample of abuse between 1989 and 2014. Most of the victims have been unconscious or sedated hospital patients on the time of the assaults. The common age was 11.
Le Scouarnec has confessed to all of the sexual abuse alleged by the civil events, in addition to to different assaults that are actually past the statute of limitations. In a surprising admission in the course of the trial, he additionally acknowledged sexually abusing his granddaughter — a press release made in entrance of her visibly distraught dad and mom.
During the trial, advocacy teams have accused well being authorities of inaction after they have been notified as early as 2005 of Le Scouarnec’s conviction for possessing baby pornography photos. At the time, no measures have been taken to droop his medical license or restrict his contact with kids, and Le Scouarnec continued his abuse in hospitals till his arrest in 2017.
Child safety teams hope that the case will assist strengthen the authorized framework to forestall such abuse.
Le Scouarnec’s trial got here as activists proceed to push to dismantle taboos which have lengthy surrounded sexual abuse in France. The most outstanding case was that of Ms. (*20*)Gisèle Pélicot, who was drugged and raped by her now ex-husband and dozens of different males who have been convicted and sentenced in December to three to 20 years in prison.
In a separate case focussing on alleged abuse at a Catholic faculty, an inquiry fee of the National Assembly, France’s decrease home of Parliament, is investigating allegations of bodily and sexual abuse over 5 many years. Victims of Le Scouarnec have, nevertheless, complained of a perceived lack of consideration.
“This trial, which could have served as an open-air laboratory to expose the serious failings of our institutions, seems to leave no mark on the government, the medical community, or society at large,” a group of victims said.
Not all victims were initially aware they had been abused. Some were contacted by investigators after their names appeared in journals kept by Le Scouarnec, in which he meticulously documented his crimes. Others only realised they had been hospitalised at the time after checking medical records. Two of his victims took their own lives some years before the trial.
Using the cover of medical procedures, the former abdominal and digestive surgeon took advantage of moments when children were alone in their hospital rooms. His method was to disguise sexual abuse as clinical care, targeting young patients who were unlikely to remember the encounters.
The notebooks, which detail the abuse in graphic language, have become central to the prosecution’s case. Despite the scope of the allegations, Le Scouarnec remained calm and composed throughout the trial.
“I didn’t see them as people,” he told the Court. “They were the destination of my fantasies. As the trial went on, I began to see them as individuals, with emotions, anger, suffering and distress.” He said his first act of abuse occurred in 1985, when he raped his 5-year-old niece. While he offered apologies to some victims, his demeanor struck many as detached and emotionless.
The Court, however, noted that Le Scouarnec “made a point of taking responsibility for his actions,” demonstrating “his intention to make amends for the consequences of his actions.”
The case first came to light in April 2017, when a 6-year-old neighbour told her mother that the man next door had exposed himself and touched her through the fence separating their properties. A search of his home uncovered more than 3,00,000 photos, 650 video files, as well as notebooks where he described himself as a pedophile and detailed his actions.
A 3rd trial is anticipated in the approaching years, following the emergence of new allegations throughout this trial, together with additional abuse involving his granddaughter.
Published – May 29, 2025 02:02 pm IST
