This is a matter of gigantic magnitude. Probably one of the worst morals cases that the French judicial institution will have to deal with. According to information revealed by France Info, the investigation into the Le Scouarnec affair is now complete, compiled in countless files of several hundred thousand pages. Joël Le Scouarnec, a former surgeon now aged 74, is accused of multiple acts of rape and sexual assault on numerous children.
More than 300 victims were recorded by investigators in the departments of Morbihan, Indre-et-Loire, Finistère and Charente-Maritime where the doctor worked. In total, 293 families are concerned, certain files having had to be excluded due to the statute of limitations. It is now up to the prosecutor and then an investigating judge to decide what action to take. An “extraordinary” trial should be held in the coming years to establish the doctor’s guilt.
“I am an exhibitionist, voyeur, sadist, pedophile”
The former surgeon has already been found guilty of rape and sexual assault on four little girls: two of his nieces, a former patient at the Loches clinic (Indre-et-Loire) where Le Scouarnec worked, and a neighbor, thanks to whom the affair broke out in 2017. In 2020, the Saintes Assize Court sentenced him to fifteen years in prison for these facts. A sentence confirmed on appeal. However, these four cases only constitute a tiny part of the victims of the “Jonzac surgeon”, named after this town where he ended his career.
During their investigation, the gendarmes got their hands on a diary in which the doctor wrote that he himself was an “exhibitionist, voyeur, sadist, masochist, scatological, fetishist, pedophile”. Before adding: “And I am very happy about it.” Investigators had also discovered two lists entitled “Vulvettes” and “Quéquettes” where Joël Le Scouarnec listed the names of 250 girls and boys whom he allegedly abused between 1984 and 2006. Taking advantage of the fact that the children were alone or asleep, the doctor increased the abuse. “He refrains from any penetration with his penis,” the investigators noted.
“Joel is inhabited by the devil”
Everywhere he practiced, in Loches, Vannes, Lorient, Quimperlé and Jonzac, the surgeon allegedly abused victims, sometimes very young, without failing to mention it in his notebooks. “He has a particularly high intelligence quotient which allows him to approach his future victims quite easily, because he inspires confidence. But he is someone who is extremely perverse, who has no repentance for the acts he committed,” explained the lawyer of one of the victims, Me Francesca Satta.
During his trials, Joël Le Scouarnec never showed compassion or regret. “Joël is inhabited by the devil,” his ex-wife testified, claiming to have seen nothing of her ex-husband’s actions. To deal with this case of exceptional magnitude, it will be necessary to convene a special criminal court for several months. It is currently unknown when the trial will take place.