THE ex-wife of a sick French surgeon accused of raping hundreds of underaged children covered up his alleged crimes for decades, a court heard.
Disgraced Joel Le Scouarnec, alleged to be France’s worst paedophile, has been accused of sexually abusing 299 victims in what is being dubbed France’s biggest-ever child abuse case.
EPAMarie France (R), the ex-wife of former surgeon Joel Le Scouarnec, arrives at the Morbihan criminal court in Vannes[/caption]
AFPRetired surgeon Joel Le Scouarnec arrives for his trial on charges of assaulting or raping 299 patients at the Criminal Court in Vannes[/caption]
Most of his victims were minors
AFPThis court sketch created on February 24, 2025, shows retired surgeon Joel Le Scouarnec (C) next to his lawyer during a hearing[/caption]
Out of those, 256 were said to be under the age of 15, with the youngest aged one and the oldest aged 70 at the time of assault.
The vile man even kept a sickening diary of his alleged crimes writing that he was a paedophile and “proud of it”.
The depraved doctor is now facing more than 100 rape charges and over 150 sexual assault charges at trial, with the average age of his alleged victims being just 11 years old.
Many victims of the surgeon have now accused his ex-wife Marie-France Le Scouarnec of covering up his “paedo criminal activities” for decades.
Ms Le Scouarnec, the mother of their three sons, insisted she knew nothing about her ex-husband’s crimes.
She told the court: “I wondered how I could have not noticed anything.
“It’s a terrible betrayal that he committed against me and my children.”
However, a letter handwritten by Ms Le Scouarnec in 2010 that was also entered as evidence read: “I ask you to please protect my youngest son, the only one who does not know his father’s past.”
Ms Le Scouarnec also said her husband was an “ideal father” to his sons.
She regretted that her domestic life had in fact been “sewn with lies”.
One of her sons said in an interview that Le Scouarnec was “an intelligent man, a little cold, who is interested in many things”, the court heard.
Marie-Caroline Arrighi, a spokesman for four victims, said outside court: “She knew. Marie-France Le Scouarnec knew and protected her husband.”
Referring to Ms Le Scouarnec’s denials, Ms Arrighi said: “Reading such comments is truly disgusting.
“We affirm, with supporting evidence, that this woman knew about her husband’s paedocriminal activities well before the case broke in 2017.
“She knowingly concealed them, allowing him to act for more than 30 years.”
Calling the couple “evil”, Ms Arrighi added: “Reporting sexual crimes and offences against minors is a legal obligation.”
Ms Le Scouarnec was due to give evidence in person in court on Tuesday but was excused after claiming she had suffered an injury in a minor car accident.
Instead, comments made by her to investigators were read out, along with ones from her three sons.
Le Scouarnec is now standing a criminal trial at the Morbihan Criminal Court in Vannes.
Thibaut Kurzawa, Le Scouarnec’s defence lawyer, said outside court: “He is waiting to be judged, to express himself, to say what he has to say to each of his victims.
Dozens of women were seen outside the court with huge banners protesting against the former surgeon.
AFPOne of the victims of retired surgeon Joel Le Scouarnec, Amelie Leveque-Merle, speaks to the press during the trial of Joel Le Scouarnec[/caption]
AFPProtestors hold banners during a protest outside the Vannes courthouse[/caption]
Joel Le Scouarnec has been accused of sexually abusing 299 people
SICK ‘FANTASIES’
Officials claimed he would carry out some of the attacks when his patients were under anaesthetic and being operated on.
The former surgeon is already serving 15 years behind bars after he was found guilty in 2020 of raping and sexually assaulting four young girls.
Two of these victims were his nieces, one was his neighbour, and the fourth was a former patient of his.
Horrifying evidence discovered in the previous investigation into the paedophile helped lead to his new bombshell four-month trial which began today.
He stopped working at the hospital and was arrested in 2017 when his six-year-old neighbour reported being raped.
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.
AFPThe Court President Aude Buresi (C) waits in the Criminal Court, on the opening day of the trial of retired surgeon Joel Le Scouarnec[/caption]
AFPThis photograph shows files in the courtroom of the Criminal Court in Vannes[/caption]
ReutersMarie Grimaud, lawyer for some of the alleged victims of ex-surgeon Joel Le Scouarnec, talks to the media before the opening of the trial[/caption]
They went to the cops who then made shocking discoveries at his home, including the repulsive diary where he detailed sexual acts with children.
The monster doctor described himself as an “exhibitionist, voyeur, sadist, masochist, scatologist, fetishist, paedophile”.
Every year on his birthday Le Scouarnec would record his age and write a vile message to himself.
He wrote: “I am a paedophile and I am proud of it.”
His diaries reportedly described the apparent crimes in great detail and without an ounce of regret or empathy.
He also included the children’s names, the date he allegedly abused them, and where it happened.
Le Scouarnec denied these words were a reality and claimed they were just his sick “fantasies”.
Cops also discovered horrifying child-sized sex dolls, some of them chained up, and over 300,000 child abuse images were discovered.
Worrying questions have been raised after it was revealed a litany of chances to stop the monster were missed.
An FBI warning had alerted the French authorities that the former surgeon had been visiting child abuse websites.
The disgraced surgeon had been convicted of downloading pornographic images of children in 2005.
A psychiatrist at the hospital Le Scouarnec was also working raised the alarm and said this conviction should lead to him being kicked out of his job.
It was revealed the French health ministry was made aware of this conviction in 2006 but decided to take no further action.
In June 2008, Le Scouarnec moved to a new hospital in Jonzac, in southwest France, and told the director he was being investigated.
charentelibre.frThe doctor is already serving a 15-year prison sentence for sexually assaulting four children[/caption]
charentelibre.frHe allegedly carried out some attacks when his patients were under anaesthetic and being operated on[/caption]