By Juliette Jabkhiro
VANNES, France (Reuters) – A former surgeon accused of raping or sexually assaulting hundreds of young patients, some while they were under anaesthetic, went on trial on Monday in France’s largest ever child sexual abuse case.
Joel Le Scouarnec, 74, faces charges of aggravated rape and sexual assault against 299 victims, most of them children at the time, in a case that raises tough questions for France’s publicly run healthcare system, victims and rights groups say.
Le Scouarnec was handed a suspended four-month jail sentence for possessing child pornography in 2005, but managed to secure a job as a surgeon at a public hospital in Quimperle, western France, the following year.
He continued to work in public hospitals until his re-arrest in 2017 on suspicion of raping his 6-year-old neighbour. Police investigators searching his home found a cache of dolls, wigs and child pornography. They also discovered electronic diaries that appeared to detail his sexual assaults on scores of patients in hospitals across the region.
In 2020, Le Scouarnec was found guilty of the rape and sexual assault of his child neighbour, as well as two of his nieces and a 4-year-old patient, and sentenced to 15 years in jail.
Following further investigations into the alleged victims logged on his files, prosecutors eventually charged Le Scouarnec with the aggravated rape and sexual assault of 299 people.
Prosecutors say Le Scouarnec has admitted to investigators many of the accusations he faces. His lawyers declined to comment ahead of the trial.
The trial takes place in Vannes, a small town in Brittany.
Francois, a plaintiff in the case and who was 12 when Le Scouarnec allegedly abused him, said he hoped the case would provide much-needed answers.
“I feel betrayed by authorities,” said Francois, who asked to be identified only by this name. “Why did nobody stop this surgeon from working with children?”
The Health Ministry did not respond to requests for comment.
WARNINGS IGNORED
Soon after Le Scouarnec secured a job at the Quimperle public hospital in 2006, a psychiatrist at the hospital alerted management to their concerns about the surgeon’s behaviour, a court document showed.
Le Scouarnec continued to work with children.
The Quimperle hospital did not respond to requests for comment on why Le Scouarnec was hired after being convicted of holding child pornography and why he was able to keep working after the psychiatrist raised their concerns.
The Lorient prosecutor Stephane Kellenberger, whose office led the investigation into Le Scouarnec’s alleged crimes, has opened a separate probe into the possible criminal liability of other public bodies or individuals who could have prevented the abuse.
“There is no way that somebody can rape and assault children for all those years without the knowing of people around. No way,” said Homayra Sellier, head of rights group Innocence in Danger, which is supporting 40 alleged victims and is a plaintiff in the case.
The health ministry did not respond to a request for comment. The National Council of the Order of Physicians (CNOM), which oversees adherence to doctors’ code of ethics in France and has the power to discipline medics, declined to comment. CNOM’s local branch in the Finistere administrative department, which court documents show was aware of Le Scouarnec’s 2005 conviction, did not respond to multiple requests for comment.
(Reporting by Juliette Jabkhiro; editing by Richard Lough and Christina Fincher)
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