A French court sentenced retired surgeon Joel Le Scouarnec to 20 years in prison on Wednesday, May 28. He was found guilty of sexually abusing hundreds of patients, including many children, over more than 20 years.

Convicted for aggravated rape

The 74-year-old man faced trial in Vannes, a town in western France. After three months of court hearings, the judge Aude Buresi gave him the maximum sentence allowed by law. She said the court considered the "particular gravity" of his crimes, pointing to the large number of victims, their young age, and the repeated nature of his actions.

No parole before serving most of the sentence

Although Le Scouarnec committed many crimes, French law does not allow cumulative punishments. This means he received a single 20-year sentence, not one for each crime. Moreover, he cannot apply for parole until he has completed at least two-thirds of his sentence.

Already behind bars for earlier crimes

This was not his first conviction. Back in 2020, a court had already sentenced him to 15 years in prison. In that case, he was found guilty of raping and sexually assaulting four children, including two nieces.

New trial revealed shocking scale of abuse

In this latest case, Le Scouarnec confessed to raping or sexually assaulting 299 patients between 1989 and 2014. Shockingly, 256 of the victims were under 15 years old. Many of these attacks happened while the patients were under anesthesia or waking up from surgery. Authorities officially charged him with 111 counts of rape and 189 counts of sexual assault.