Former surgeon confesses to 'heinous acts' in France's biggest pedophilia case

Former surgeon Joël Le Scouarnec, a self-confessed pedophile, today admitted to having abused and raped most of the 299 victims identified by police in the largest pedophilia trial in French history, confessing to having committed “heinous acts”.

The 74-year-old retired doctor has taken responsibility for the damage caused to hundreds of victims, with an average age of 11 at the time of the crimes, throughout his professional career and could be sentenced to a maximum of 20 years in prison.

“If I am before you, it is because one day, when most of them were still children, I committed heinous acts,” he said from a corner of the courtroom at the Morbihan Criminal Court in the city of Vannes.

“I sympathize with the suffering caused to each of these people by the extreme violence of what I wrote. During my interrogations, I tried to recognize what rape and sexual assault were, but also to clarify what I did not consider to be such acts,” he continued.

Le Scouarnec said he was “perfectly aware” that the “wounds” he inflicted on his victims “are indelible, irreparable”.

“I owe it to all these people, to their loved ones, to take responsibility for my actions and for the consequences they may have had and will have throughout their lives,” he concluded in his statement.

The events under trial took place between 1989 and 2014 and took place in several private clinics and public hospitals in western France, where he worked as a digestive surgeon.

Le Scouarnec raped and sexually abused his patients while they were still under anesthesia after undergoing surgery.

Some of them do not remember what happened, while others retain some 'flashes' of what happened.

One of these victims, Mathis, committed suicide at the age of 24, after learning that he had been a victim of this pedophile at the age of 10.

“I want him (Le Scouarnec) to recognize what he did and pay for it,” Mathis’ father explained this morning.

Le Scouarnec was already sentenced in 2020 to 15 years in prison for sexual abuse and rape of four other children, two of whom were his nieces, and in 2005 he had also been convicted of possession of child pornography images.

Despite all this, he continued to work as a doctor and deal with children on a daily basis, whom he continued to abuse.

On May 2, 2017, he was arrested again by the police when his 6-year-old neighbor reported to her parents that Le Scouarnec had raped her.

When police searched his home, they found thousands of documents on child pornography, dolls of different sizes, wigs and intimate diaries in which he described his crimes in detail.

In his notebooks, he recorded several crimes, such as fondling, fellatio, penetration with fingers and other actions.

Furthermore, Le Scouarnec admitted to being an “exhibitionist, voyeur, sadist, masochist, scatologist, fetishist, pedophile” and claimed to be “very happy” with all of this.

Of the 299 victims, 256 were under 15 years old, 158 were boys and 141 were girls.

Le Scouarnec demonstrated “his spirit of cooperation with justice”, Maxime Tessier, one of his lawyers, told reporters at the end of the first day of a trial that will continue until the verdict scheduled for June 6.

“It is a good step forward and a very interesting surprise that a man is willing to acknowledge the accusations against him,” said Francesca Satta, lawyer for a dozen victims.

“The victims will have the opportunity to rebuild their lives and perhaps get some answers to questions that remain unanswered,” the lawyer added.

The trial attracted media interest beyond France's borders, with around half a thousand journalists accredited to cover it.

The testimony of Joël Le Scouarnec's three children and ex-wife is scheduled for Tuesday.

Former surgeon Joël Le Scouarnec, a self-confessed pedophile, today admitted to having abused and raped most of the 299 victims identified by police in the largest pedophilia trial in French history, confessing to having committed “heinous acts”.

The 74-year-old retired doctor has taken responsibility for the damage caused to hundreds of victims, with an average age of 11 at the time of the crimes, throughout his professional career and could be sentenced to a maximum of 20 years in prison.

“If I am before you, it is because one day, when most of them were still children, I committed heinous acts,” he said from a corner of the courtroom at the Morbihan Criminal Court in the city of Vannes.

“I sympathize with the suffering caused to each of these people by the extreme violence of what I wrote. During my interrogations, I tried to recognize what rape and sexual assault were, but also to clarify what I did not consider to be such acts,” he continued.

Le Scouarnec said he was “perfectly aware” that the “wounds” he inflicted on his victims “are indelible, irreparable”.

“I owe it to all these people, to their loved ones, to take responsibility for my actions and for the consequences they may have had and will have throughout their lives,” he concluded in his statement.

The events under trial took place between 1989 and 2014 and took place in several private clinics and public hospitals in western France, where he worked as a digestive surgeon.

Le Scouarnec raped and sexually abused his patients while they were still under anesthesia after undergoing surgery.

Some of them do not remember what happened, while others retain some 'flashes' of what happened.

One of these victims, Mathis, committed suicide at the age of 24, after learning that he had been a victim of this pedophile at the age of 10.

“I want him (Le Scouarnec) to recognize what he did and pay for it,” Mathis’ father explained this morning.

Le Scouarnec was already sentenced in 2020 to 15 years in prison for sexual abuse and rape of four other children, two of whom were his nieces, and in 2005 he had also been convicted of possession of child pornography images.

Despite all this, he continued to work as a doctor and deal with children on a daily basis, whom he continued to abuse.

On May 2, 2017, he was arrested again by the police when his 6-year-old neighbor reported to her parents that Le Scouarnec had raped her.

When police searched his home, they found thousands of documents on child pornography, dolls of different sizes, wigs and intimate diaries in which he described his crimes in detail.

In his notebooks, he recorded several crimes, such as fondling, fellatio, penetration with fingers and other actions.

Furthermore, Le Scouarnec admitted to being an “exhibitionist, voyeur, sadist, masochist, scatologist, fetishist, pedophile” and claimed to be “very happy” with all of this.

Of the 299 victims, 256 were under 15 years old, 158 were boys and 141 were girls.

Le Scouarnec demonstrated “his spirit of cooperation with justice”, Maxime Tessier, one of his lawyers, told reporters at the end of the first day of a trial that will continue until the verdict scheduled for June 6.

“It is a good step forward and a very interesting surprise that a man is willing to acknowledge the accusations against him,” said Francesca Satta, lawyer for a dozen victims.

“The victims will have the opportunity to rebuild their lives and perhaps get some answers to questions that remain unanswered,” the lawyer added.

The trial attracted media interest beyond France's borders, with around half a thousand journalists accredited to cover it.

The testimony of Joël Le Scouarnec's three children and ex-wife is scheduled for Tuesday.

Former surgeon Joël Le Scouarnec, a self-confessed pedophile, today admitted to having abused and raped most of the 299 victims identified by police in the largest pedophilia trial in French history, confessing to having committed “heinous acts”.

The 74-year-old retired doctor has taken responsibility for the damage caused to hundreds of victims, with an average age of 11 at the time of the crimes, throughout his professional career and could be sentenced to a maximum of 20 years in prison.

“If I am before you, it is because one day, when most of them were still children, I committed heinous acts,” he said from a corner of the courtroom at the Morbihan Criminal Court in the city of Vannes.

“I sympathize with the suffering caused to each of these people by the extreme violence of what I wrote. During my interrogations, I tried to recognize what rape and sexual assault were, but also to clarify what I did not consider to be such acts,” he continued.

Le Scouarnec said he was “perfectly aware” that the “wounds” he inflicted on his victims “are indelible, irreparable”.

“I owe it to all these people, to their loved ones, to take responsibility for my actions and for the consequences they may have had and will have throughout their lives,” he concluded in his statement.

The events under trial took place between 1989 and 2014 and took place in several private clinics and public hospitals in western France, where he worked as a digestive surgeon.

Le Scouarnec raped and sexually abused his patients while they were still under anesthesia after undergoing surgery.

Some of them do not remember what happened, while others retain some 'flashes' of what happened.

One of these victims, Mathis, committed suicide at the age of 24, after learning that he had been a victim of this pedophile at the age of 10.

“I want him (Le Scouarnec) to recognize what he did and pay for it,” Mathis’ father explained this morning.

Le Scouarnec was already sentenced in 2020 to 15 years in prison for sexual abuse and rape of four other children, two of whom were his nieces, and in 2005 he had also been convicted of possession of child pornography images.

Despite all this, he continued to work as a doctor and deal with children on a daily basis, whom he continued to abuse.

On May 2, 2017, he was arrested again by the police when his 6-year-old neighbor reported to her parents that Le Scouarnec had raped her.

When police searched his home, they found thousands of documents on child pornography, dolls of different sizes, wigs and intimate diaries in which he described his crimes in detail.

In his notebooks, he recorded several crimes, such as fondling, fellatio, penetration with fingers and other actions.

Furthermore, Le Scouarnec admitted to being an “exhibitionist, voyeur, sadist, masochist, scatologist, fetishist, pedophile” and claimed to be “very happy” with all of this.

Of the 299 victims, 256 were under 15 years old, 158 were boys and 141 were girls.

Le Scouarnec demonstrated “his spirit of cooperation with justice”, Maxime Tessier, one of his lawyers, told reporters at the end of the first day of a trial that will continue until the verdict scheduled for June 6.

“It is a good step forward and a very interesting surprise that a man is willing to acknowledge the accusations against him,” said Francesca Satta, lawyer for a dozen victims.

“The victims will have the opportunity to rebuild their lives and perhaps get some answers to questions that remain unanswered,” the lawyer added.

The trial attracted media interest beyond France's borders, with around half a thousand journalists accredited to cover it.

The testimony of Joël Le Scouarnec's three children and ex-wife is scheduled for Tuesday.