French Surgeon Admits to Sexually Abusing 299 Patients Over Decades

Joel Le Scouarnec's admission marks a pivotal moment in one of France's largest child abuse cases, as investigators continue to uncover the extent of his crimes.

Joel Le Scouarnec, a 74-year-old former surgeon, confessed to sexually abusing 299 patients, many of whom were under 15 years old.
The abuse occurred between 1989 and 2014 across more than a dozen French hospitals, often while patients were under anaesthesia or recovering from surgery.
Le Scouarnec meticulously documented his crimes in notebooks, which were key to identifying victims and building the case against him.
Despite a 2005 conviction for possessing child sexual abuse images, he continued practicing medicine until his retirement in 2017.
Investigators are pursuing additional victims based on his records, while the trial examines systemic failures that allowed the abuse to persist for decades.