The Trial of Joël Le Scouarnec: A Surgeon Accused of 300 Rapes and Sexual Assaults**

Since Monday, February 24, Joël Le Scouarnec, a 75-year-old former surgeon, has been standing trial before the criminal court of Morbihan in Vannes for 300 counts of rape and sexual assault committed on nearly 300 victims, the majority of whom were minors. This trial, which is part of an exceptionally large pedocriminality case, highlights the brutality of the actions of this respected doctor who practiced for more than 35 years in various hospital institutions.

A Decisive Denunciation: The Beginning of the End

The discovery of the extent of his crimes was made possible thanks to the bravery of a six-year-old neighbor who, in 2017, reported having been raped by her neighbor. This revelation led to a search of Joël Le Scouarnec’s home, where the police found more than 55,000 child pornography images, dolls representing children, and notebooks detailing his actions. These writings helped trace decades of violence and abuse, some dating back to his early years in the profession.

Incriminating Notebooks and Manipulated Victims

Among the items found at the surgeon’s home, his personal notebooks are particularly revealing. Between 1990 and 2014, he meticulously described his sexual assaults, which he referred to as “pleasure.” In these writings, he identified victims by their name, age, and details of the abuse, and expressed his obsession with deviant practices, ranging from fetishism to incestuous and scatological acts. Joël Le Scouarnec used his position as a doctor to manipulate his young patients, pretending to perform medical procedures to conceal his attacks, sometimes under general anesthesia.

A Family and Medical Silence for Decades

The horror of Le Scouarnec’s actions intensified over the years, supported by a complicit silence within his own family. As early as 1984, he began abusing his niece, and his first acts of incest spread to other family members. Several revelations were suppressed, notably by the mothers of his victims, who failed to react to concerning behaviors, thereby reinforcing a culture of silence. This family silence allowed his crimes to continue for decades.

In the medical field, his authority and status as a surgeon played a crucial role in concealing his actions. Hundreds of patients, often children and adolescents, were abused under the guise of medical care, their assaults going unnoticed or minimized due to a lack of vigilance and reporting.

A Contradictory Defense and Devastated Victims

In court, Joël Le Scouarnec presented a contradictory defense, alternating between partially acknowledging some acts and denying the severity of his crimes. Nonetheless, the civil parties insist on the reality of these abuses, emphasizing that his notebooks are not mere fantasies but damning evidence of a very real deviance. The victims’ testimonies are heartbreaking: some were abused under anesthesia, while others were groped in full consciousness, often after surgery or during medical exams under the pretext of necessary care.

A Case Raising Questions About Pedocriminality in the Medical Field

The Le Scouarnec case highlights a chilling reality: some pedocriminals exploit their professional status to perpetrate their acts. The victims’ lawyers emphasize that this trial is essential to shed light on the mechanisms of power, manipulation, and silence that allowed this man to continue his medical career and his abuse for so many years. This trial raises crucial questions about the flaws in the system and how institutions may have turned a blind eye to such acts.

The Le Scouarnec case is not only an individual tragedy but also a broader reflection on the mechanisms of complicity and indifference that sometimes allow such grave crimes to continue without anyone reacting.