A French surgeon described as ‘the worst mass paedophile who ever lived’ and an ‘atomic bomb’ of child abuse was today sentenced to two decades in prison for raping scores of youngsters over three decades.
Joël Le Scouarnec, 74, admitted at least 299 horrifying crimes against victims who were mostly under the age of 15, with the youngest just four.
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 re-offending’.
The offences took place between 1989 and 2014, while other alleged crimes were not prosecuted because they happened too long ago.
During a three-month trial held in Vannes, the court heard how Le Scourarnec mainly abused patients while they were still under anaesthetic, or slowly waking up following operations.
Thomas Delaby, a barrister representing one of his victims, told Le Scourarnec: ‘You are the worst mass paedophile who ever lived’ and ‘an atomic bomb of paedophilia. Your victims will never forgive you.’
Speaking just before the verdict, Le Scourarnec said: ‘I’m not asking the court for leniency. Simply grant me the right to become a better person.’
Joël Le Scouarnec, 74, admitted at least 299 horrifying crimes against victims who were mostly under the age of 15, with the youngest just four
Le Scouarnec showed no emotion as jury at the Morbihan Criminal Court, in Brittany, found him guilty of 111 rapes and 189 sexual assaults (courtroom sketch from February)
People demonstrated with posters reading ‘No excuse for abuses’, left, and ‘How many more?’, right, ahead of the verdict in the trial of Joel Le Scouarnec
The defendant also explained how he had caused the the deaths of at least two of his victims.
Le Scouarnec said: ‘I am responsible for the deaths of Mathis Vinet, who died after an overdose in 2021’ and Alan Roux, who was found hanged at his home in 2020.
His lawyer, Maxime Tessier, asked the court to take into account the ‘exceptional’ nature of the surgeon’s confession.
In turn, prosecutors who had heard Le Scouarnec decribed as ‘France’s worst ever paedophile’ said he was ‘a devil’ and there was ‘a very high risk’ of him re-offending if ever allowed out of his cell.
Stéphane Kellenberger, the Attorney General, said his proven crimes were committed against 158 males and 141 females, with an average age of 11.
Le Scouarnec had also kept a record of his crimes, documenting the victims’ names, ages, addresses and the nature of the abuse.
In his notes, the doctor described himself as a ‘major pervert’ and a ‘paedophile’.
‘And I am very happy about it,’ he recorded.
One of Le Scouarnec’s victims, Mathis Vinet, died of a drug overdose aged just 24
Victims attended the demonstration ahead of Le Scouarnec’s trial on May 19
A group of alleged victims, members of women’s collectives, NGO’s and unions gather in front of the courthouse, on the day of the verdict of ex-surgeon Joel Le Scouarnec
A woman holds a banner representing anonymous victims during a demonstration ahead of the verdict in the trial of Joel Le Scouarnec
This court sketch shows a 43-year-old woman telling the court that Le Scouarnec had destroyed her life after he repeatedly raped her on a hospital bed when she was a child
During a three-month trial, the court heard how Le Scourarnec mainly abused patients while they were still under anaesthetic, or slowly waking up following operations
The graphic details allowed the police to track down his victims as most had no memory of the abuse as they were still unconscious.
The verdict said they came to their decision after taking ‘into account that the acts committed are of particular gravity due to the number of victims, their young age and the compulsive nature’ of the crimes.
Requesting a ‘maximum possible sentence of twenty years’ for Le Scouarnec, Mr Kellenberger said there needed to be ‘additional security measures,’ because of the danger Le Scourarnec still posed.
Le Scouarnec’s lawyers have said they will not appeal the jail term.
The monster told the court last week in his last statements that he ‘can no longer look at myself the same way because I am a paedophile and a child rapist’.
He added: ‘Many things have been said. I don’t necessarily remember everything now.
‘It will no doubt come back to me when I’m in my cell, but what I’ve witnessed is the suffering for which I am responsible.’
Le Scouarnec is already in prison after being sentenced in December 2020 to 15 years for raping and sexually assaulting four children, including two of his nieces.
His wife, Marie-France Le Scouarnec, was also portrayed as a ruthless accomplice, while denying any wrongdoing
Le Scouarnec’s wife spent her days taking lovers and going to aquaerobics, while her once highly respected surgeon husband repeatedly attacked children, it was alleged
The surgeon practised for decades until his retirement in 2017, despite a 2005 sentence for owning sexually abusive images of children.
His wife, Marie-France Le Scouarnec, was also portrayed as a ruthless accomplice, while denying any wrongdoing.
She spent her days taking lovers and going to aquaerobics, while her once highly respected surgeon husband repeatedly attacked children, it was alleged.
Ms Le Scouarnec, the mother of his three sons, lived with him throughout that time, and has always denied knowing what he was doing.
But Patrick Le Scouarnec, the 70-year-old brother of the defendant, told the court that she was being untruthful.
‘There is another person who could have ensured that my brother was arrested – it is his wife, Marie-France,’ said Mr Le Scouarnec.
Victims of Le Scouarnec have also accused Ms Le Scouarnec of covering up his ‘paedocriminal activities’ for decades.
Ms Le Scouarnec said: ‘I wondered how I could have not noticed anything. It’s a terrible betrayal that he committed against me and my children.’
Amelie Leveque, now 42, was operated on by Le Scouarnec in 1991 – the abuse she suffered was detailed in one of his diaries
The judiciary files relating to Joel Le Scouarnec’s 2020 trial were displayed on the opening day in Saintes
Those watching Le Scouarnec intently today as the verdict was read out included many of his victims.
They want the authorities, who they say should have stopped Le Scouarnec earlier, to answer for the scandal.
In comments that have been published and broadcast across France, victims called for Le Scouarnec’s wife to be prosecuted too.
Marie-Caroline Arrighi, a spokesman for four victims, said outside court: ‘She knew. Marie-France Le Scouarnec knew and protected her husband.’
Calling the couple ‘evil,’ Ms Arrighi added: ‘Reporting sexual crimes and offenses against minors is a legal obligation.’
The Lorient public prosecutor’s office has opened two new investigations into Le Scouarnec’s professional career, which ended in 2017.
They include ‘possibly unidentified and newly reported victims’ of sexual abuse and rape.
The Le Scouarnec case follows last year’s conviction of Dominique Pelicot, 72, after the so-called ‘Monster of Avignon’ was found guilty of drugging his wife Gisèle Pelicot, also 72, over a decade, while allowing strangers to rape her repeatedly.
The monster told the court last week in his last statements that he ‘can no longer look at myself the same way because I am a paedophile and a child rapist’ (pictured Le Scouarnec arriving for his trial in February)
The surgeon practised for decades until his retirement in 2017, despite a 2005 sentence for owning sexually abusive images of children (pictured is Jonzac where he secured a full-time post in 2008)
Such crimes have led to calls for great public vigilance, and more efforts by the authorities to clamp down on sex criminals.
Victims of Joël Le Scouarnec immediately expressed their disappointment that the ‘atomic bomb paedophile’ could only be imprisoned for 20 years.
Francesca Satta, a lawyer representing civil parties involved in the case, said: ‘Twenty years is a short time considering the number of victims involved.
‘It’s time for the law to be changed so that more appropriate sentences can be handed down. At the moment we cannot go beyond the legal texts.’
The prosecutor said last week that in the United States – where the opposite is the case – Le Scouarnec could have been jailed for ‘2,000 years’.
His case has certainly exposed the lax controls France has of determined paedophiles in positions of authority.
Earlier this month, survivors of the surgeon’s abuse staged a protest outside the court in Vannes, holding signs such as ‘Never again’ and ‘I accuse you.’
They also held signs representing 355 victims of Le Scouarnec, including ‘forgotten victims and those whose cases have been dismissed,’ said Manon Lemoine, who was abused.
‘We want to be together,’ she said.
Another victim, Celine Mahuteau, on Wednesday sent a letter to President Emmanuel Macron saying that France has not implemented a national policy ‘to prevent paedophilia.’
There has been frustration among some that the trial has not had the impact in France they hoped for.
The case has not won the attention given to the case of Dominique Pelicot, who was jailed last year for recruiting dozens of strangers to rape his now ex-wife Gisele.
But Health Minister Yannick Neuder said on Wednesday he would work with Justice Minister Gerald Darmanin to ensure that ‘never again will we find ourselves in a situation where patients and vulnerable children’ are exposed to predators.
This court sketch created on May 23, 2025, shows the defendant, French retired surgeon Joel Le Scouarnec listening during a hearing in his trial
The home of Le Scouarnec in Jonzac, a village in south west France, close to the world-famous brandy-producing region of Cognac
‘What we want to say is never again,’ he told broadcaster France Info. ‘How did we get into this situation?’
Le Scouarnec was in 2020 sentenced to 15 years in prison for sexually attacking four minors.
But it was his conviction for possessing child pornography as far back as 2005 that was also under scrutiny.
This was the year that America’s FBI (Federal Bureau of Investigation) organised a sting that led to Le Scouarnec being convicted for the first time.
Federal agents investigating an international paedophile ring alerted their French counterparts, saying that Le Scouarnec’s bank card had been used to access a Russian child sex abuse site on the Dark Web.
Le Scouarnec was arrested, convicted for possession of such images, and given a four-month suspended sentence.
His employers were alerted but, because of staff shortages, they did not suspend him.
In 2006, a concerned colleague again reported Le Scouarnec to the L’Ordre des Médecins (The Order of Physicians) – France’s professional body for doctors – because of his suspicous behaviour, but no action was taken.
It was not until April 2017 – the year Le Scouarnec retired – that the extent of his crimes became apparent thanks to a report by a six-year-old girl.
She lived next door to Le Scouarnec, and told her parents that ‘the man with a crown of white hair’ had exposed himself and sexually touched her through a broken garden fence.
The family went to police who, a week later, searched his home and found hard disks containing more than 300,000 images of child sexual abuse.
In one handwritten note hidden under a mattress, Le Scouarnec was alleged to have written: ‘I am a paedophile and I always will be.’
Officers also discovered a collection of life size child dolls, which Le Scouarnec was said to have used for sexual gratification.
In December 2020, Le Scouarnec was sentenced to 15 years for the sexual abuse of four girls: his six-year-old neighbour, a four-year-old patient and two of his own nieces, who were just four years old when the abuse started.
At the time of this conviction, police were already investigating the further 299 counts of alleged rape and sexual abuse on young patients heard during the latest trial.
A spokesman for the departmental council of the Morbihan medical association told the court: ‘Joël Le Scouarnec has seriously brought the profession into disrepute.’