The rapist in the doctor’s coat – victim despite maximum sentence disappointed
Joël Le Scouarnec didn’t want a mildness and he didn’t get her either. A criminal court in Vannes in Western French sentenced the former surgeon to 20 years in prison on Wednesday. The 74-year-old received the maximum penalty that he had raped 299 children over decades who were only eleven years old.
However, his victims reacted outraged to the judgment, since the court did not provide any preventive detention against the mass rapist. « I have the impression that I had not fought for anything for six years, » said Amélie Lévêque, who had the first victim in public. « The fact that one day he can go for a walk on the street is bothered by me. »
Process against the « devil in the doctor’s coat » comes to an end
Le Scouarnec often committed his crimes while the children were still under anesthesia. During the three -month process, dozens of victims described how much they still suffer from the actions of the surgeon. « I was two years old. I have no memory, but I’m damaged, » said a young woman, according to the newspaper « Le Monde ». The psychiatrist Thierry Baubet confirmed that trauma can also exist if the former patients do not remember aggression.
The question remained open in court why the doctor could practice his profession for so long.
Le Scouarnec was arrested in 2017 after raping a neighboring girl in the garden. Her parents showed him. The police then discovered 1,600 pages in his completely dirty house, on which the doctor had meticulously captured his deeds. « I touched her abdomen by pretending whether to burn when it was peeing, » he wrote, for example, to investigate a girl.
The officials also found dolls, some of which were as big as toddlers. He had given them artificial genitals to then ejaculate on them. The policewoman, who headed the investigation, suffered a burnout and has been on sick leave for years. When she said video during the process, she broke out in tears.
« Rue without real feelings »
Le Scouarnec confessed to all rapes and sexual aggression. He apologized to the victims, two of whom committed suicide. However, the apologies were made in a mechanical way, so that the doctor was criticized as a « apology machine ». « He shows remorse, but without real feelings, » said Solène Previn Favre from the Face à l’Inceste association in the newspaper « Le Monde ». Judge Aude Buresi justified the waiver of preventive detention by recognizing the doctor.
The court sketch shows the retired French surgeons Joel Le Scouarnec in his process in the courthouse. Photo: Benoit Peyrucq/AFP/dpa
Le Scouarneec lived as a respected doctor and father of three sons for decades. His wife Marie-France, who divorced in 2023, denied in court that she knew her husband’s pedophile obsessions. His own family was also the victim of the doctor: he passed two of his nieces and a granddaughter, as he confessed during the trial.
Gisèle Pelicot: heroine without intentions
The question remained open in court why the doctor could practice his profession for so long. Finally, in 2005 he was sentenced to four months in prison for probation because he was owned by children’s pornography. Nevertheless, he was continued as a surgeon, most recently in Jonzac in Western French.
The victims, who initially only moved to the public with their history, have now founded a collective. They accuse the government of not taking care of the scandal, which also revealed a failure of the health authorities. Health Minister Yannick Neuder now wants to receive the victims on June 11th. « I will work with the Minister of Justice that sexual predators are never delivered again, » said Neuder on Wednesday on the radio. « We would like to say: Something like this should never happen again. »
Advice centers for those affected
The national center for emotional and sexual support Cesas lists a variety of organizations and support systems for victims of child abuse in Luxembourg on its website.
