20-year term sought for French surgeon in mass sex abuse trial

By AFP
May 24, 2025
A view shows the courthouse of Vannes, where ex-surgeon Joel Le Scouarnec, accused of the aggravated rape and sexual assault of hundreds of children over three decades, is being tried. — Reuters/File
A view shows the courthouse of Vannes, where ex-surgeon Joel Le Scouarnec, accused of the aggravated rape and sexual assault of hundreds of children over three decades, is being tried. — Reuters/File

VANNES, France: A French prosecutor on Friday requested the maximum 20-year sentence for a former surgeon who admitted to sexually abusing almost 300 patients, mostly children.

An additional trial will also likely be required for Joel Le Scouarnec, 74, to cover the cases of further victims whose abuse is not part of the current case, said prosecutor Stephane Kellenberger.

Le Scouarnec has been on trial since February accused of 111 rapes and 189 sexual assaults on 299 people, mostly of minors under 15, at a dozen hospitals in western France, in one of the country´s largest child sex abuse cases. He admitted in March to sexually abusing all 299 victims between 1989 and 2014, many while they were under anaesthesia or waking up after operations.