A French court is expected to deliver its verdict on Wednesday in the country’s biggest ever paedophilia case. Former surgeon Joël Le Scouarnec is accused of raping and sexually assaulting 299 children over more than two decades. He has admitted to all charges.
For many survivors, the case is not just about one man, but about the institutions that failed to protect them.
“If a trial with 300 victims doesn’t change this blind society, then what will?” said one survivor in April, standing on the courthouse steps in Vannes, Brittany.
The trial has exposed the crimes of France’s most prolific known child sex offender – and the gaps in the systems meant to stop him.
Le Scouarnec, now 74, is already serving a 15-year sentence for abusing four children, including two of his nieces.
This second trial, which began three months ago in Brittany, covers abuse committed between 1989 and 2014.
Most of his victims were children in hospital, either unconscious or sedated. The average age was 11. There were 158 boys and 141 girls.
Prosecutors have called for the maximum sentence of 20 years, describing Le Scouarnec as “a devil in a white coat".
They are also seeking preventive detention – a rarely used legal measure in France – which could keep him locked up even after his sentence ends.
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'Failures' in medical profession
The case has raised serious questions about how both the medical and legal systems responded to warning signs.
In 2005, Le Scouarnec was convicted of possessing child pornography. Yet no one suspended his medical licence. He continued working in hospitals and abusing children until his arrest in 2017.
“More could have been done,” said prosecutor Stéphane Kellenberger in his closing remarks. “Even within the notorious layers of French bureaucracy… that responsibility is lost, and hits innocent lives.”
Marie Grimaud, a lawyer for around 30 of the victims, said “society missed the point”.
She criticised the medical profession’s lack of self-reflection.
"The medical world remains a domain of expertise and authority,” she told RFI. “We’ve tried to dissect and autopsy the failures revealed by this trial. The court has provided some momentum… now it must leave the courtroom. It all depends on the will of the medical profession."
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'Didn't see them as people'
Some of the most disturbing evidence came from Le Scouarnec’s own notebooks, where he described his actions in graphic detail.
Many survivors only found out they had been abused when police discovered their names in the journals. Others connected the dots later by reviewing old medical records. Two victims died by suicide before the trial began.
Le Scouarnec admitted to all the charges, but his behaviour in court has appeared detached.
“I didn’t see them as people,” he told the court. “They were the destination of my fantasies.” He also confessed to raping his five-year-old niece in 1985, and sexually abusing his granddaughter – a statement he made in front of her distraught parents.
Survivors and support groups have criticised the lack of official response.
"This trial, which could have served as an open-air laboratory to expose the serious failings of our institutions, seems to leave no mark on the government, the medical community, or society at large,” a group of victims said in a statement.
"We're deeply disappointed... we shouldn't have to be the ones opening people's eyes, but here we are," says Manon Lemoine, one of the victims and a member of the newly formed collective pushing for reform.
So much to learn
Lemoine said the group was formed after officials appeared unwilling to act.
On 6 May, a centrist MP asked Health Minister Yannick Neuder what steps he planned to take to stop institutional failures, pointing out that Le Scouarnec kept working in hospitals even after his 2005 conviction.
Lemoine said the minister’s reply was that the question was “off-topic”.
“The minister said that the predator had made numerous appeals, and when there are appeals the conviction is removed from the criminal record.”
However, Le Scouarnec never appealed his 2005 conviction for possession of child pornography.
"It shocked us to see such a lack of understanding of the case, it was unacceptable to all the victims," Lemoine said.
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Calls for reform
Lemoine said the trial has revealed how much there is still to fix.
"This case gives us a wealth of material to make this country fairer to its victims, to protect its children,” she said. “There is so much to be learned from this trial."
The 50-member collective has sent a letter to several ministries, listing 10 proposals aimed at improving child protection.
Neuder has agreed to meet the group in June.
