France: maximum penalty for the pediatrician doctor

A life as a freelance man, he no longer painted that, Joël Le Scouarnec had said himself in one of his surveys. In view of the severity of his actions and their terrible consequences for the victims, it was right if he stayed locked up for a very long time, said the 74-year-old. The judges in Vannes in Brittany saw it similarly In the largest children’s molestry process in Francewhich ended on Wednesday after almost three months of negotiation with the judgment. Le Scouarnec was sentenced to the maximum penalty of 20 years for sexual attacks and rape.

However, it is not supplemented by security custody that prosecutor Stéphane Kellenberger had requested. He had referred to the defendant as the « devil in the doctor’s coat ».

Children’s mushroom process in France: The « devil in the doctor’s coat » is long in custody

Overall, the former surgeon was accused of rape of and sexual attacks on 299 patients between 1989 and 2014. Le Scouarnec not only described his deeds in detail in his diaries, but also admitted them in the course of the trial, as well as the facts that have been expired.

Le Scouarnec performed with a repentance in court. Thanks to the process, he had become « full of awareness of the suffering of the victims of my actions ». Many of those affected thought he was dishonest and felt « a lot of anger against him, » said lawyer Laure Boutron-Marmion. However, due to his extensive confessions, he took the fear of the statement. « 20 years is little in the face of the number of victims, » ​​her legal colleague Francesca Satta said after the verdict. « It is time for the legal texts to change. »

The child molester pounded his victims while still slept after the operation

Le Scouarnec mostly passed to children or adolescents, the average age of those attacked by him was eleven years. They were often still under anesthesia or slept after an operation when he came to punch them and rape them with their fingers. Hardly anyone in the various hospitals mostly in western France, in which he worked, was suspected – and if so, this had no consequences.

The judge was expected in the courtroom and the adjacent premises that had been converted specially to make room for the large number of process participants. « I had to hear the verdict to finally put an end to this chapter, » said Cécile Mahuret. In 2017, the 36-year-old learned in a summons in a police commissioner that she was abused by Le Scouarneec at the age of seven. In his records, he not only described his perverse actions, but also noted the names, age and addresses of his victims. « I would have preferred to never find out about it, » said Mahuret. Horror memories to the man with the white smock, who leaned over her thighs and her genital area and touched her there came up again. But finally she understood her pathological fear of physical closeness and of medical staff.

Children’s molesters in court: « I was too strongly dominated by my shoots »

Le Scouarnec himself said that he had been caught in his perverse fantasies for decades. Nothing was able to stop him from his deeds, « I was too much dominated by my shoots ». After his wife’s divorce, he lived in a dilapidated house for years until his arrest in 2017.

Many of those affected angry that the regional medical association also appeared as a civil plaintiff. Despite warning signals in the form of a complaint by a colleague and reporting a first conviction of the surgeon, she had remained a probation penalty because of the possession of pädokriminal photos and videos in 2005 process Also covered the failure of the responsible authorities and the hospital management. It was a six -year -old neighbor through which Le Scouarnec flew. In 2020 he was sentenced to 15 years in prison for sexual violence against her and three other girls, including two of his nieces. Prosecutor Kellenberger announced that there could be another process if more affected people can be identified.