Latest news 299 counts of abuse: 20 years in prison for doctor in France
A court in Vannes in western France has sentenced a surgeon to 20 years in prison for abusing 299 mostly underage patients.
28.05.2025, 15:05
SDA
In what is probably the largest child abuse trial in France, retired hospital doctor Joël Le Scouarnec (74) confessed to abusing a total of 158 patients and 141 female patients with an average age of eleven between 1989 and 2014. The acts took place in the operating room, during anesthesia and also in the patients' rooms.
The public prosecutor's office had demanded 20 years in prison, the maximum possible sentence for the accused. He had treated his victims like inanimate objects, shown no empathy whatsoever and also exploited his role as a doctor. He often assaulted patients or children who were still under anaesthetic and who were unable to classify his actions as abuse. According to the indictment, the surgeon often disguised his actions as medical examinations.
The public prosecutor said that the number of victims of the surgeon was even higher. In order not to delay the trial, 299 cases had initially been charged. There would probably be further criminal proceedings for other victims.
Why didn't the authorities stop the doctor earlier?
The court case has shaken France. There is also the question of why the health authorities were not able to stop the doctor, who had already been sentenced to probation for child pornography in 2005, earlier. In this context, the defense lawyer spoke of "a major failure of our healthcare systems". Indications of misconduct had been played down and the doctor had been kept in his post.
Victims of the surgeon also denounced the failure of the authorities. "How was Doctor Scouarnec able to practise for 30 years, how was he allowed to go about his business, why did nobody know?" said a 36-year-old woman in court. France's medical association admitted its own failings in the trial.
The doctor had already been sentenced to 15 years in prison in 2020 for four cases of abuse. The investigation was triggered in 2017 by a complaint from a neighbor whose six-year-old daughter was abused by the doctor in the garden.
During searches, the investigators came across around 300,000 photos of child abuse as well as diaries in which the doctor had recorded his decades of abuse in great detail. With this information, the investigators set out to find the often unknowing victims that the surgeon met during his work in rural clinics in western France.
Traumatized victims
In court, numerous victims spoke about the traumatization and psychological damage caused by the abuse. Even children who did not notice the abuse as such reacted unconsciously to the violence they suffered.
Experts diagnosed post-traumatic syndromes, blockages and physical complaints in the victims as a result of psychological stress. In some cases, these only occurred after the investigators visited the victims and revealed to them that they had been victims of abuse in their childhood.
At the start of the trial, the unassuming-looking pensioner made a comprehensive confession. "I committed heinous acts," he said. "I must bear the responsibility for my actions and the consequences for the victims, which they will have for the rest of their lives." Unexpectedly, the doctor later admitted in court that he had also abused his granddaughter, who was two years old at the time of the crime.
