Frenchman Joel Le Scouarnec, the former surgeon who has admitted sexually abusing hundreds of patients – mostly children, between 1989 and 2014 – has been sentenced to a maximum term of 20 years, but because he has already served seven years, could be up for parole in 2030.
In announcing the sentence, the judge said the court had taken into account that Le Scouarnec had especially sought out unwell, vulnerable and sedated victims.
The BBC reports that the sentence has a mandatory minimum term of two-thirds – and because Le Scouarnec (74) has already served seven years, he may be eligible for parole within five years.
“Twenty years is little compared to the number of victims in this trial,” said Francesca Satta, a lawyer for some of the victims. “It is time for the law to change so we can have more appropriate sentences.”
His lawyer, Maxime Tessier, said Le Scouarnec had no intention of appealing.
The disgraced surgeon been dubbed France’s most prolific paedophile, having admitted in March to sexually abusing 299 children.
He is already in prison after being sentenced in 2020 to 15 years for raping and sexually assaulting four children, including two of his nieces, and has been on trial in Brittany since late February, during which time dozens of his victims have testified, describing how their abuse as children shaped their lives.
In March, Le Scouarnec admitted sexually abusing many of his victims while they were under anaesthesia or waking up after operations.
Last month he also said he was “responsible” for the deaths of two victims whose relatives said they committed suicide, after the trauma of being sexually assaulted by Le Scouarnec when they were children.
The trial has sparked fury that Le Scouarnec got away with the abuse for more than 15 years, and that he was allowed to continue to treat children despite a conviction in 2005 for downloading paedophile images.
The former doctor, who was present in court every day of the 14-week trial, repeatedly apologised for his “revolting” acts, but many of his victims were unimpressed, calling his words insincere.
Tessier also pointed the finger at the medical establishment, which civil parties have accused of not doing more to stop Le Scouarnec from practicing medicine even when rumours of his paedophilia were circulating widely.
“No one acknowledged responsibility, whereas all of the victims said it’s not only a man who did that, but also the system which let him do it,” he told the BBC.
In March, the National Order of Doctors (Cnom), which has also filed a lawsuit against Le Scouranec, “expressed its deep regrets”, saying the former surgeon “should have been prevented from practicing”.
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