Latest news with #Bretagne
Al Jazeera
28-05-2025
- Health
- Al Jazeera
French surgeon sentenced to 20 years for sex abuse of nearly 300 people
A French court has sentenced a retired surgeon to 20 years in prison for raping or sexually abusing nearly 300 victims, many of them children under anaesthesia, over 25 years of his career in another case of years-long abuse that has rocked the nation. The conviction and sentencing on Wednesday in the Brittany court capped what is widely seen as the worst case of abuse of children that has ever gone to trial in modern France. It comes after 51 men were convicted of taking part in the decade-long mass rape of a woman, Gisele Pelicot, in southern France in what many advocates hoped would be a watershed #MeToo moment for those seeking justice against their abusers. Throughout the most recent trial, 74-year-old Joel Le Scouarnec admitted to raping or sexually abusing 299 patients – including 256 victims under the age of 15 – as he worked in hospitals in western France. The attacks took place from 1989 to 2014, many while his patients were under anaesthesia or waking up after operations. All told, Le Scouarnec was charged with 111 rapes and 189 sexual assaults in the case, which began in February. Throughout the trial, Le Scouarnec told the court he committed 'despicable acts'. 'I owe it to all these people and their loved ones to admit my actions and their consequences, which they've endured and will keep having to endure all their lives,' he said at one point. But victims, lawyers and advocates who gathered at the courthouse throughout the trial and on Wednesday for the verdict said they put little stock in Le Scouarnec's words of contrition. 'You are the worst mass paedophile who ever lived,' Thomas Delaby, one of about 60 lawyers representing the victims, said during the trial. He described Le Scouarnec as an 'atomic bomb of paedophilia'. Delaby told Le Scouarnec the victims 'will never forgive you, never'. Le Scouarnec had previously been convicted in 2020 for raping and sexually assaulting four children, including two of his nieces. He was already serving a 15-year sentence as the current trial played out. The 20-year sentence is the maximum possible. In France, sentences are not served consecutively. In the United States, prosecutors noted, Le Scouarnec would have been sentenced to '2,000 years'. The case has raised questions about France's publicly run health system and how Le Scouarnec was able to act with impunity for so many years. Advocates have demanded to know why he was allowed to continue working in public hospitals despite being convicted in 2005 of downloading images of child sexual abuse. At the time, he received a suspended jail sentence. The extent of Le Scouarnec's abuse was revealed only after his rearrest in 2017 on suspicion of raping his 6-year-old neighbour. Police then discovered electronic diaries that appeared to document decades of abuse in painstaking detail. In his notes, the doctor described himself as a 'major pervert' and a 'paedophile'. 'And I am very happy about it,' he wrote. Wednesday's verdict was handed down during what some hope will be a wider reckoning over sexual abuse in France and what some see as social mores that enable such crimes. In December, a court in the southern French city of Avignon convicted 51 men of the years-long rape and sexual abuse of Pelicot, who refused to remain anonymous during the proceedings and whose clear-eyed testimony resonated among the French public. 'I've decided not to be ashamed, I've done nothing wrong,' she testified during the trial. 'They are the ones who must be ashamed.' Among those convicted was Pelicot's ex-husband, 72-year-old Dominique Pelicot, who prosecutors said orchestrated the drugging and raping of his wife for nearly a decade.
The Irish Sun
28-05-2025
- The Irish Sun
France's worst child rapist jailed for 20yrs after doc abused 299 patients as young as 4 & bragged ‘I'm a proud paedo'
FRANCE'S worst child rapist has been jailed for 20 years after the sick doctor abused nearly 300 patients and bragged in a diary he was a "proud" paedophile. Depraved , 73, a former surgeon, admitted at least 299 horrifying crimes against victims who were mostly under the age of 15, with the youngest just four. 9 Depraved Joel Le Scouarnec sexually assaulted his victims over three decades Credit: France 3 Bretagne 9 256 of the alleged victims were children 9 Le Scouarnec speaking during a hearing on the opening day of his trial in February Credit: AFP Many of Scouarnec's victims were On Wednesday, Le Scouarnec showed no emotion as jury at the Morbihan Criminal Court, in Brittany, found him guilty of 111 rapes and 189 sexual assaults. Presiding Judge Aude Burési in turn sentenced him to 'twenty years in prison' with a minimum two-thirds term without the possibility of parole 'to prevent reoffending'. The former surgeon is already serving 15 years behind bars after he was found guilty in 2020 of raping and sexually assaulting four young girls. Two of these victims were his nieces, one was his neighbour, and the fourth was a former patient of his. He stopped working at the hospital and was arrested in 2017 when his six-year-old neighbour reported being . After his 2017 arrest, investigators made shocking discoveries at his home, including the repulsive diary where he detailed sexual acts with children. The monster doctor described himself as an 'exhibitionist, voyeur, sadist, masochist, scatologist, fetishist, pedophile'. Most read in The US Sun Every year on his birthday Le Scouarnec would record his age and write a vile message to himself. He wrote: "I am a paedophile and I am proud of it." His diaries reportedly described the apparent crimes in great detail and without an ounce of regret or empathy. Decade of vile rapes by 51 men, filmed 20k times by monster husband - inside trial that shocked world He also included the children's names, the date he allegedly abused them, and where it happened. Le Scouarnec denied these words were a reality and claimed they were just his sick "fantasies". sex dolls, some of them chained up, and over 300,000 child abuse images were discovered. MISSED CHANCE Worrying questions have been raised after it was revealed a litany of chances to stop the monster were missed. An The disgraced surgeon had been convicted of downloading pornographic images of children in 2005. A psychiatrist at the hospital Le Scouarnec was also working raised the alarm and said this conviction should lead to him being kicked out of his job. It was revealed the French health ministry was made aware of this conviction in 2006 but decided to take no further action. 9 He is already serving a 15-year prison sentence for sexually assaulting four children 9 He allegedly carried out some attacks when his patients were under anaesthetic and being operated on 9 French retired surgeon Joel Le Scouarnec (C), reacting during a hearing in his trial on charges of rape and sexual assault of 299 former patients Credit: AFP In June 2008, Le Scouarnec moved to a new hospital in Jonzac, in south-west France, and told the director he was being investigated. This was disregarded and the monster worked there until he retired in 2017. WIFE 'COVERED UP DRUG AND RAPE HORROR' Le Scouarnec's ex wife court heard in February. Many victims of the surgeon accused his ex-wife Marie-France Le Scouarnec of covering up his "paedo criminal activities" for decades. Ms Le Scouarnec, the mother of their three sons, insisted she knew nothing about her ex-husband's crimes. She told the court: "I wondered how I could have not noticed anything. "It's a terrible betrayal that he committed against me and my children." However, a letter handwritten by Ms Le Scouarnec in 2010 that was also entered as evidence read: "I ask you to please protect my youngest son, the only one who does not know his father's past." Ms Le Scouarnec also said her husband was an "ideal father" to his sons. She regretted that her domestic life had in fact been "sewn with lies". One of her sons said in an interview that Le Scouarnec was "an intelligent man, a little cold, who is interested in many things", the court heard. Marie-Caroline Arrighi, a spokesman for four victims, said outside court at the time: "She knew. Marie-France Le Scouarnec knew and protected her husband." Referring to Ms Le Scouarnec's denials, Ms Arrighi said: " Reading such comments is truly disgusting. "We affirm, with supporting evidence, that this woman knew about her husband's paedocriminal activities well before the case broke in 2017. Read more on the Irish Sun "She knowingly concealed them, allowing him to act for more than 30 years." Calling the couple "evil", Ms Arrighi added: "Reporting sexual crimes and offences against minors is a legal obligation." 9 Marie France (R), alleged ex-wife of former surgeon Joel Le Scouarnec, arrives at the Morbihan criminal court in Vannes, Brittany, France, 25 February Credit: EPA 9 Joel Le Scouarnec sitting in courtroom and accused of raping or abusing 299 people, mostly child patients Credit: AP 9 A drone view shows the courthouse of Vannes, before the opening of the trial of ex-surgeon Joel Le Scouarnec Credit: Reuters
The Independent
28-05-2025
- Health
- The Independent
French court to deliver verdict in landmark child sex abuse case involving 299 victims
A French court will deliver its verdict Wednesday in one of the country's largest-ever child sex abuse cases, which has raised questions about how a pedophile surgeon was able to rape hundreds of victims over a period spanning more than two decades. Joël Le Scouarnec, a 74-year-old former surgeon, stands accused of raping and sexually assaulting 299 children. On Friday, prosecutors requested the maximum sentence of 20 years in prison, describing Le Scouarnec as 'a devil in a white coat.' He's already serving a 15-year prison sentence, for a conviction in 2020 for the rape and sexual assault of four children, including two nieces. The new trial in Brittany, western France, began in February and has laid bare a pattern of abuse between 1989 and 2014. Most of the victims were unconscious or sedated hospital patients at the time of the assaults. The average age was 11. Among the victims were 158 boys and 141 girls. Accusations of inaction During the trial, advocacy groups have accused health authorities of inaction after they were notified as soon as 2005 of Le Scouarnec's conviction for possessing child pornography pictures. At the time, no measures were taken to suspend his medical license or limit his contact with children and Le Scouarnec continued his abuse in hospitals until his arrest in 2017. 'Should Joël Le Scouarnec have been the only one in the defendant's box?' prosecutor Stéphane Kellenberger asked during his closing arguments. ' More could have been done," Kellenberger said. "Things could have been done differently, even within the notorious layers of French bureaucracy, where responsibilities are so often passed from one authority to another until, eventually, that responsibility is lost, and hits innocent lives." Le Scouarnec has confessed to all the sexual abuse alleged by the 299 civil parties, as well as to other assaults that are now beyond the statute of limitations. In a shocking admission during the trial, he also acknowledged sexually abusing his granddaughter — a statement made in front of her visibly distraught parents. Le Scouarnec had been convicted in 2005 for possessing and importing child sexual abuse material and sentenced to four months of suspended prison time. Despite that conviction, he was appointed as a hospital practitioner the following year. Child protection groups that have joined the proceedings as civil parties hope that the case will help strengthen the legal framework to prevent such abuse. Dismantling taboos Le Scouarnec's trial came as activists continue to push to dismantle taboos that have long surrounded sexual abuse in France. The most prominent case was that of Gisèle Pélicot, who was drugged and raped by her now ex-husband and dozens of other men who were convicted and sentenced in December to three to 20 years in prison. In a separate case focusing on alleged abuse at a Catholic school, an inquiry commission of the National Assembly, France's lower house of parliament, is investigating allegations of physical and sexual abuse over five decades. Victims of Le Scouarnec have, however, complained of a perceived lack of attention. "This trial, which could have served as an open-air laboratory to expose the serious failings of our institutions, seems to leave no mark on the government, the medical community, or society at large,' a group of victims said in a statement. Horrific notebooks Not all victims were initially aware they had been abused. Some were contacted by investigators after their names appeared in journals kept by Le Scouarnec, in which he meticulously documented his crimes. Others only realized they had been hospitalized at the time after checking medical records. Two of his victims took their own lives some years before the trial. Using the cover of medical procedures, the former abdominal and digestive surgeon took advantage of moments when children were alone in their hospital rooms. His method was to disguise sexual abuse as clinical care, targeting young patients who were unlikely to remember the encounters. The notebooks, which detail the abuse in graphic language, have become central to the prosecution's case. Despite the scope of the allegations, Le Scouarnec has remained calm and composed throughout the trial. 'I didn't see them as people,' he told the court. 'They were the destination of my fantasies. As the trial went on, I began to see them as individuals, with emotions, anger, suffering and distress.' He said his first act of abuse occurred in 1985, when he raped his 5-year-old niece. Detached and emotionless While he offered apologies to some victims, his demeanor struck many as detached and emotionless. 'I don't show emotion, that's just how I am,' he said. 'That doesn't mean I don't feel it, but I don't express it.' The case first came to light in April 2017, when a 6-year-old neighbor told her mother that the man next door had exposed himself and touched her through the fence separating their properties. A search of his home uncovered more than 300,000 photos, 650 pedophilic, zoophilic and scatological video files, as well as notebooks where he described himself as a pedophile and detailed his actions. 'Joël Le Scouarnec says he no longer feels any sexual attraction to children, but there's no way to verify that,' Kellenberger, the prosecutor, told the court. 'Experts concluded that we cannot rely on his word alone and that his potential for future danger remains significant.' Prosecutors are seeking not only a 20-year prison sentence with a two-thirds minimum term, but also a post-sentence preventive detention, a rarely used measure in France that applies to the country's most dangerous offenders. If approved, Le Scouarnec could be held indefinitely in a secure socio-medical facility, even after serving his time. A third trial is expected in the coming years, following the emergence of new allegations during this trial, including further abuse involving his granddaughter.
Yahoo
27-05-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Rennes resigned to losing captain Adrien Truffert
Stade Rennais look resigned to losing their captain, Adrien Truffert (23), during the summer transfer window, according to a report from L'Équipe. France international Truffert has once again played a central role for Rennes this season in what has been a disappointing campaign. The Breton club went through three managers over the course of the campaign on their way to a mid-table finish. There will therefore be something of a revolution at the club over the summer. It has already started, in fact, with Loïc Désiré coming in to replace Frédéric Massara in the sporting director role. Advertisement There will also be an overhaul in the playing squad. Truffert, as club captain, is naturally a player that Rennes would like to retain, however, with the full-back's contract up at the end of next season, they don't look capable of retaining him. The defender was linked with a move to the Premier League last summer, whilst AS Monaco have previously been cited as a suitor. GFFN | Luke Entwistle
News.com.au
26-05-2025
- News.com.au
French surgeon says deserves no 'leniency' after decades of abusing patients
A French surgeon who sexually abused hundreds of patients over two decades, most of them minors, said Monday he was asking for no "leniency" as his three-month trial nears a verdict. Joel Le Scouarnec, 74, has admitted to sexually assaulting or raping 299 patients -- 256 of them under 15 -- in hospitals in western France between 1989 and 2014, many while they were under anaesthesia or waking up after operations. The prosecution on Friday requested the maximum 20-year sentence for the former surgeon and also made the rare demand that he should be held in a centre for treatment and supervision even after any release. "I am not asking the court for leniency," Le Scouarnec said in his closing statement. "Simply grant me the right to become a better person," he added. The verdict from the court in Vannes in the western Brittany region is expected on Wednesday. "You were the devil and he sometimes is dressed in a white coat," prosecutor Stephane Kellenberger told Le Scouarnec on Friday, adding that an additional trial could be required to cover the cases of further victims whose abuse is not part of the current case. - 'Not asking to escape' - Le Scouranec is charged in this trial with 111 rapes and 189 sexual assaults and is set to emerge this week as one of the most prolific convicted sex predators in France's history. His defence team said he was not contesting the accusations or the prosecutor's sentencing request, but insisted his expressions of regret towards the victims were genuine, despite many not believing him. "Joel Le Scouarnec is not asking to escape the sentence requested by the public prosecutor," said one of the lawyers, Maxime Tessier. The lawyer asked the court to take into account the "exceptional" nature of Le Scouarnec's confession when he admitted all the charges against him in March. "Joel Le Scouarnec has never blamed anyone else, he has always said, 'I am the only guilty party, I am the only one responsible,'" Tessier said. "The court must be convinced of Joel Le Scouarnec's sincerity." He has repeated apologies almost mechanically over the weeks of the trial, sometimes word for word, in a monotone voice. And while the surgeon admitted responsibility, he also repeatedly said he did not remember his acts. - 'Learn lessons' - The months of hearings have been marked by horror over the acts of the ex-surgeon -- who confessed to the abuse -- but also frustration over the failure of medical and judicial authorities to act sooner. The former surgeon practised for decades until his retirement in 2017, despite a 2005 conviction for owning sexually abusive images of children. Le Scouarnec is already in prison after being sentenced in December 2020 to 15 years for raping and sexually assaulting four children, including two of his nieces. Some parties in the trial voiced frustration that it had not had the impact in France they had hoped for in the media and politics. The case has not won the level of attention given to that of Dominique Pelicot, who was jailed last year for recruiting dozens of strangers to rape his now ex-wife Gisele. Earlier this month, around 20 victims of Le Scouarnec and their relatives staged a protest in front of the court over the "silence of the political world". They demanded "an interministerial commission" to "learn lessons" from the Le Scouarnec case and prevent similar events from happening again. "We are appalled to see that this 'trial of the century' is not a watershed event in the eyes of the government and, more broadly, the general public," the group said. "They're trying to make him out to be a monster, but this monster is the society that created him and allowed him to persist," said Manon Lemoine, now 36, one of the victims who Le Scouarnec admits to raping when she was 11.
