Surgeon accused of abusing 299 victims over 25 years

A former surgeon who allegedly raped and abused hundreds of young patients, many of whom were under anaesthetic, will be the subject of France’s largest-ever child abuse trial later this month.

- ALEX CROFT

Joel Le Scouarnec, 73, a once-respected surgeon who worked in regions across France, stands accused of assaulting or raping 299 people in a 25-year reign of terror, usually targeting his child patients while working in Brittany.

The surgeon is accused of detailing his rapes and assaults – and naming his victims – in depraved diaries discovered when his home was searched in 2017. Le Scouarnec has admitted to some but not all charges in the upcoming trial in Vannes, northwest France. In 2020, he was sentenced to 15 years behind bars for the rape and sexual assault of four minors – including two of his nieces.

In May 2017, Le Scouarnec was brought to the attention of French authorities for the first time after his six-year-old neighbour in Jonzac, southwestern France, told her mother that Le Scouarnec exposed himself and molested her over the fence.