Former French surgeon Joël Le Scouarnec sexually abused 299 children over the course of 25 years, most of whom were under the age of 15, in one of the largest cases of child sexual abuse France has ever seen. As the trial comes to a close, his victims and organisations combatting violence against children wish the case had garnered more public attention or political action.
Just over a dozen victims and their families rallied outside a courthouse in western France last week, surrounded by activists.
By their feet, a crime scene had been reconstructed. Symbolic objects like children’s clothes, toys and a notebook were scattered atop a white sheet. Each object was given a number, as though it would later be taken in for forensic testing.
Joël Le Scouarnec, a French paedophile surgeon accused of raping and abusing 299 child patients between 1989 and 2014, has been on trial since February in one of the largest sex abuse cases France has ever seen.
A final verdict is expected tomorrow, on May 28.
As the three-month trial draws to a close, victims and organisations combatting child abuse are not only frustrated with the lack of attention the case has received, but angry at the meagre actions taken by the French government to ensure a crime of this scale never happens again.
‘Shame must change sides’
But it is not for want of trying. Those who fell victim to Le Scouarnec’s abuse as children have made significant efforts to try and draw public attention to the case, and the issue of child sexual abuse more broadly.
Gourlet was sexually assaulted by Le Scouarnec in 2006 at the age of 13, after undergoing surgery for a cyst on his navel. He is now 31 years old.
Read more on FRANCE 24 English
Read also:
French paedophile surgeon Le Scouarnec says he is ‘responsible’ for deaths of two victims
‘They knew and did nothing’: French surgeon’s trial for sexual abuse exposes systematic failures