A paedophile surgeon who was imprisoned in 2020 for the rape and assault of his six-year-old neighbour is alleged to have kept a diary detailing the alleged abuse of hundreds of individuals.
Joel Le Scouarnec, who raped his two nieces and a four-year-old patient, allegedly inflicted his horrific abuse on hundreds of victims including patients under anaesthesia.
During the investigation, French police uncovered what prosecutors allege are electronic diaries that chronicled three decades of rapes and sexual assaults on young hospital patients.
The 74-year-old is now facing charges for the aggravated rape and sexual assault of 299 people, many of whom were children, with some being anaesthetised during the alleged abuse.
Authorities are currently attempting to match these dates in the material with the alleged victims. Le Scouarnec will stand trial for these charges in Vannes, a town in Brittany, in what is being called France’s largest ever child sexual abuse case.
Prosecutors have stated that Le Scouarnec has confessed to many of the allegations against him, although his lawyers have refrained from commenting before the trial.
One alleged victim, who was 12 at the time of the alleged abuse, expressed his feelings of betrayal by the authorities, questioning why the surgeon was allowed to work with children.
Many patients who were anaesthetised reported no memory of the alleged abuse, but psychiatrists have noted signs of post-traumatic stress, court filings show.
Le Scouarnec received a suspended four-month prison term in 2005 for child pornography possession, yet astonishingly secured a surgical position at Quimperle public hospital the next year.
A court document revealed that a psychiatrist at the hospital raised concerns about Le Scouarnec’s behaviour in 2006, but the surgeon continued to work with children.
Prosecutor Stephane Kellenberger, who led the investigation into Le Scouarnec’s alleged crimes, has opened a separate preliminary probe to determine if there was any criminal liability by agencies or individuals who could have prevented the abuse.
The trial is set to begin in France on Monday.
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