VANNES (France), May 26 — French surgeon Joel Le Scouarnec, who admitted to sexually abusing nearly 300 mostly child patients, told his trial today he was not asking for “leniency” but wanted “to become a better person”.
“I am not asking the court for leniency,” he said in his closing statement after the prosecution last week asked for the maximum 20-year jail term.
“Simply grant me the right to become a better person,” he said at the end of the three-month trial in Vannes in the western French region of Brittany.
Le Scouarnec, 74, has admitted to sexually assaulting or raping 299 patients in hospitals in western France between 1989 and 2014, many while they were under anaesthesia or waking up after operations.
Most — 256 — were under 15 at the time.
The prosecution on Friday requested the maximum 20-year sentence for the former surgeon and also made the rare demand that he should be held in a centre for treatment and supervision even after any release.
Le Scouarnec is already in prison after being sentenced in 2020 to 15 years for raping and sexually assaulting four children, including two of his nieces.
The retired doctor spoke after his defence lawyers presented their closing arguments.
“Joel Le Scouarnec is not asking to escape the sentence requested by the public prosecutor,” said one of the lawyers, Maxime Tessier.
The lawyer asked the court to take into account the “exceptional” nature of Le Scouarnec’s confession when he admitted all the charges against him in March.
“Joel Le Scouarnec has never blamed anyone else, he has always said, ‘I am the only guilty party, I am the only one responsible,’” he said.
“The court must be convinced of Joel Le Scouarnec’s sincerity.”
The former doctor has asked his victims for forgiveness.
But many have said they do not believe him.
The verdict is expected on Wednesday. — AFP