Surgeon Accused of Abusing 299 Patients, Mostly Kids

Former surgeon Joël Le Scouarnec took the stand on the first day of the largest child sexual abuse trial in French history on Monday, saying he would take responsibility for his crimes. The 74-year-old is charged with raping or sexually abusing 299 patients who were under anesthesia or recovering from surgery, 85% of whom were under the age of 15, over the course of 25 years. He then admitted to having "done hideous things," per the Guardian. Nearly all of the victims, aged 1 to 70 at the time, were told of the alleged abuse by police, who found their names written in "black books" at Le Scouarnec's home. They'd received care at more than a dozen private and public hospitals in western France between 1989 and 2014.

The victims include 158 males and 141 females, including two of Le Scouarnec's own nieces, per Euronews. Some recall the alleged abuse. One woman suggested her grandson, who died by suicide, had been "killed" by the surgeon's actions, per the BBC. However, the majority have no memory and "would have rather gone on not knowing," said public prosecutor Stéphane Kellenberger. "But silence had reigned for too long." The trial, expected to run into June, will explore how the surgeon was able to continue operating on children after he was handed a four-month suspended sentence for possessing child sexual abuse images in 2005. His employers, a professional body of doctors, and the Ministry of Health were informed but "no action was taken," the Guardian reports.

More than a decade later, neighbors reported Le Scouarnec to police. He was convicted of the rape or sexual assault of four children in 2020 and sentenced to 15 years in prison. He faces an additional 20 years if convicted of the new allegations, based on more than 300,000 files of child sexual abuse material allegedly found in his home. There was also a note allegedly reading, "I am a pedophile and I always will be," per the Guardian. Le Scouarnec attorney Maxime Tessier said his client admitted to the "vast majority" of the charges. "I am perfectly aware that these wounds are indelible, beyond repair," Le Scouarnec told the Vannes court, per the BBC. "I can't go back, but I owe it to [the victims] and their relatives to admit my actions and the consequences they had." (More child sex abuse stories.)