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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 Joel Le Scouarnec, 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.
France 3 Bretagne
256 of the alleged victims were children
AFPMany of Scouarnec’s victims were under the effects of anaesthesia or recovering from surgery, prosecutors said.
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 raped.
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”.
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.
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”.
Cops also discovered horrifying child-sized 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 FBI warning had alerted the French authorities that the former surgeon had been visiting child abuse websites.
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.
He is already serving a 15-year prison sentence for sexually assaulting four children
He allegedly carried out some attacks when his patients were under anaesthetic and being operated on
AFPIn 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 was said to have covered up his crimes for decades, a 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.
“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.”
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