A SICK surgeon accused of sexually abusing 299 patients has gone on trial in what is being dubbed France’s biggest-ever child abuse case.
Depraved Joel Le Scouarnec, alleged to be France’s worst paedophile, took the stands today at the Morbihan Criminal Court in Vannes.
The disgraced doctor has been accused of abusing 299 victims between 1989 and 2004, mostly in hospitals around Brittany, France.
Out of those, 256 were under the age of 15, with the youngest aged one and the oldest aged 70.
The vile man even kept a sickening diary of his alleged crimes writing that he was a paedophile and “proud of it”.
Le Scouarnec is currently on trial for more than 100 counts of rape and over 150 counts of sexual assault, targeting victims who were on average only 11 years old.
Officials claimed he would carry out some of the attacks when his patients were under anaesthetic and being operated on.
The former surgeon is already serving 15 years behind bars after he was found guilty in 2020 of raping and sexually assaulting four young girls.
Two of these victims were his nieces, one was his neighbour, and the fourth was a former patient of his.
The shocking evidence uncovered in the prior probe of this abuser played a crucial role in launching his extensive four-month trial, which commenced recently.
He stopped working at the hospital and was arrested in 2017 when his six-year-old neighbour reported being raped.
One of his neighbors, a young girl, reported to her parents that a man with white hair living next door had exposed himself and made inappropriate sexual advances towards her by reaching through a damaged garden fence.
They went to the cops who then made shocking discoveries at his home, including the repulsive diary where he detailed sexual acts with children.
The monster doctor described himself as an “exhibitionist, voyeur, sadist, masochist, scatologist, fetishist, paedophile”.
Every year on his birthday Le Scouarnec would record his age and write a vile message to himself.
He wrote: “I am a paedophile and I am proud of it.”
His diaries reportedly described the apparent crimes in great detail and without an ounce of regret or empathy.
He also included the children’s names, the date he allegedly abused them, and where it happened.
Le Scouarnec denied these words were a reality and claimed they were just his sick “fantasies”.
MISSED CHANCE
Cops also discovered horrifying child-sized sex dolls, some of them chained up, and over 300,000 child abuse images were discovered.
Worrying questions have been raised after it was revealed a litany of chances to stop the monster were missed.
An FBI warning had alerted the French authorities that the former surgeon had been visiting child abuse websites.
The disgraced surgeon had been convicted of downloading pornographic images of children in 2005.
A psychiatrist at the hospital Le Scouarnec was also working raised the alarm and said this conviction should lead to him being kicked out of his job.
It was revealed the French health ministry was made aware of this conviction in 2006 but decided to take no further action.
In June 2008, Le Scouarnec moved to a new hospital in Jonzac, in south-west France, and told the director he was being investigated.
This was disregarded and the monster worked there until he retired in 2017.
His alleged sexual abuse is said to have driven some patients to take their own lives, sparked drug and alcohol dependency in others and destroyed relationships.
‘Beast of Avignon’ – France’s worst mass rape case
IT is one of the worst cases of sexual abuse that rocked France.
Gisèle Pélicot, 72, was repeatedly drugged over a decade by her pensioner husband Dominique Pélicot so dozens of men could rape her.
Psychologists described Mr Pélicot as a “Jekyll and Hyde” character who appeared like a normal husband during the day and then drugged his wife so strangers could rape her at night.
They described him as having a split personality.
Mr Pélicot said of the comments: “I am accused of many things. We are not born perverts, we become them.
“Even if it is paradoxical, I have never considered my wife as an object.”
A report submitted to the court suggested Mr Pélicot displayed a tendency towards “paraphilia” – sexual arousal in atypical situations – and also “somnophilia”– an attraction to unconscious partners.
This made him a “very caring and much-loved husband by day” but “a rapist at night”, psychologist Bruno Daunizeau explained in the report.
The court heard how Mr Pélicot considered himself a “good husband” to the woman he married in 1971 and had three children with.
He said he was “respectful of his wife’s desires and refusals to sex”, but “also had fantasies about swinging” and “got pleasure” in seeing his wife “undergo sexual acts that she normally refused”.
The sick grandfather admitted to the heinous mass rape of Ms Pélicot that stretched for almost a decade.
Dominique, dubbed the Devil of Avignon, wept as he was found guilty on all charges of aggravated rape, attempted aggravated rape and taking indecent images of women including his daughter Caroline in court.
Heroic Gisèle Pelicot told the press that she wanted to be open about the hellish struggle of the years-long abuse by her ex-husband for her children’s sake.
The victims and their families want the authorities, who they say should have stopped him earlier, to answer for the scandal.
Shortly after Le Scouarnec appeared in the dock, a spokesman for the departmental council of the Morbihan Medical Association told the court: “Joël Le Scouarnec has seriously brought the profession into disrepute.”
Thibaut Kurzawa, Le Scouarnec’s defence lawyer, said outside court: “He is waiting to be judged, to express himself, to say what he has to say to each of his victims.
“From the beginning he’s been ready to confront reality, to accept his responsibility.”
The Le Scouarnec trial continues and is expected to conclude in June.
HOW YOU CAN GET HELP:
Women’s Aid has this advice for victims and their families:
- Always keep your phone nearby.
- Get in touch with charities for help, including the Women’s Aid live chat helpline and services such as SupportLine.
- If you are in danger, call 999.
- Familiarise yourself with the Silent Solution, reporting abuse without speaking down the phone, instead dialing “55”.
- Always keep some money on you, including change for a pay phone or bus fare.
- If you suspect your partner is about to attack you, try to go to a lower-risk area of the house – for example, where there is a way out and access to a telephone.
- Avoid the kitchen and garage, where there are likely to be knives or other weapons. Avoid rooms where you might become trapped, such as the bathroom, or where you might be shut into a cupboard or other small space.
If you are a victim of domestic abuse, SupportLine is open Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday from 6pm to 8pm on 01708 765200. The charity’s email support service is open weekdays and weekends during the crisis – [email protected].
Women’s Aid provides a live chat service – available weekdays from 8am-6pm and weekends 10am-6pm.
You can also call the freephone 24-hour National Domestic Abuse Helpline on 0808 2000 247.
