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.
Many waived their right to anonymity in the hearings, agreeing to testify in the courtroom. Others demanded action, like Nicolas Gourlet, who during his testimony in late April asked that “things change so we don’t end up with another Le Scouarnec out there”.
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.
Throughout the trial, an increasing number of victims also changed their minds about speaking openly to the press in the hope that “shame changes sides”, as Gourlet said, echoing the words of Gisèle Pelicot in the mass rape trial that rocked France last year.
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But despite their efforts, Le Scouarnec’s victims say very little has been done.
“Nothing is happening. We haven’t seen a single political reaction,” Manon Lemoine, who was 11 when she was raped by Le Scouarnec, told AFP. “Despite how difficult this trial is for us, we are obliged to put our energy into making ourselves heard, to try and get a bit of visibility, a bit of consideration,” she said.
The victims' group has asked the French government to form a special committee of representatives from the health and justice ministries, as well as the children’s commissioner, to draw lessons from the Scouarnec case and improve the government response to, and prevention of, child sexual abuse.
“We haven’t heard back yet, but we’re waiting for them to act on what’s happening now, on this tragedy,” Lemoine said.
Gabriel Trouve, who was assaulted by Le Scouarnec at age 5 when he was hospitalised, believes the trial should serve as an “open-air lab” to expose “all the systemic failures” that exist, and to ensure a “solid support and prevention system” is put in place.
In the shadow of Pelicot and Betharram
Those frustrated with the lack of public attention the Scouarnec trial received have often made comparisons to the Pelicot trial and the sex abuse scandal at the Catholic boarding school Notre-Dame de Bétharram, which has garnered a lot of attention in recent months.
But Martine Brousse, president of “La Voix de l’Enfant”, a French organisation that combats violence against children, says that the case against Scouarnec has not gained as much attention as the Pelicot or Bétharram trials partly because of how isolated the former surgeon’s victims were from the start.
“Most of them didn’t know each other before the trial. And while some people knew they had been abused or raped, some only found out during the investigation,” Brousse underlines.
“In the Pelicot trial, it was one woman surrounded by feminist organisations. In the case of Bétharram, hundreds of victims banded together and created a collective [with an appointed spokesperson],” she continues. “That is not the case for the victims of Le Scouarnec.”
The spokesperson at the head of the Bétharram collective also published a book on April 24, called "The Silence of Bétharram".
Read moreFrench PM Bayrou to testify in Catholic school sex abuse scandal
But the sex abuse scandal at the Bétharram Catholic school in southwest France also had important political implications. Prime Minister François Bayrou was accused of knowing about the widespread abuse that took place at the school during his time as education minister between 1993 and 1997. One of his own daughters, Hélène Perlant, spoke out about suffering abuse while attending summer camp at the school when she was 14.
Bayrou denies the accusations, but faced one of the most delicate moments of his tenure so far when he was questioned about the abuse by a parliamentary committee – amplifying debates around the case in both the political and public spheres.
As the trial closes, Brousse thinks it is “unfortunately too late” for the victims to create the same amount of traction as the Pelicot and Bétharram cases.
Le Scouarnec was questioned for the last time on May 20 at a hearing in a courthouse in Vannes, western France.
A long road ahead
For Brousse, there are many things that have changed to better protect children in medical settings in recent decades.
Paediatric reception centres known as “Enfants en Danger” (“Children in Danger”) or UAPED have become widespread across France. The specialised service brings together paediatricians, child psychiatrists, forensic doctors, legal professionals and psychologists who accommodate victims in a safe location and offer them support. Training on violence against children is also recommended to all healthcare professionals, though not mandatory.
“But there is still a long way to go,” Brousse says. “Especially regarding prevention.”
Le Scouarnec was first convicted 20 years ago, in 2005, for possession of child pornography. He was given a four-month suspended prison sentence and a €90 fine. But the paedophile surgeon continued to work in hospitals, without any professional restrictions, and continued to abuse children until he was finally arrested in 2017.
“I’m always surprised at how few penalties there are for possessing child pornography,” says Solène Podevin-Favre, the co-director of Ciivise, an independent commission that collects testimonies on incest and sexual violence towards children.
“These are people who take pleasure in seeing a child being raped,” she continues. “We need to monitor and punish professionals accordingly.”
France increased the minimum sentence for possessing and consulting child pornography from three to five years in 2021, as part of a three-year plan to end violence against children. Offenders are also now automatically included in a registry that bans them from working with children.
What has shocked many in the Scouarnec case was the lack of disciplinary action the paedophile received, despite numerous attempts to flag him.
Read more'They knew and did nothing': French surgeon's trial for sexual abuse exposes systematic failures
A psychiatrist who worked with Le Scouarnec raised concerns in 2006 after his initial conviction and wrote to the Order of Physicians, which regulates France’s medical profession. He doubted the former surgeon’s ability to “remain completely calm when treating young children”, but no action was taken.
The hospital they worked at promoted Le Scouarnec as head of surgery instead, and its director applauded his “excellent relations both with patients and their families”.
“Anywhere children are being looked after, whether it is a school or a sports club or a hospital, employees should be systematically obliged to present certificates proving they have not previously been convicted [of child abuse],” Brousse says. “That is what prevention is all about. Making sure you don’t let a predator into your establishment.”
Podevin-Favre agrees with Brousse that people working with children should be screened regularly. “We need to systematically check their files to see if they are listed as perpetrators of sexual or violent offenses. Not only when they are hired, but every year, to ensure that children are safe to be around them.”
The French government approved a recommendation by Ciivise to make these kinds of checks mandatory. “While this means the government considers the measure a priority and is committed to implementing it, it is still unclear when that will happen and with what resources,” Podevin Favre explains.
Another recommendation made by the commission is to make it mandatory for doctors to report all cases of abuse, “not only for minors under the age of 15, which was the case until now, and ensuring those who report a case are not sanctioned by the Order of Physicians”, says Podevin-Favre. That recommendation was also greenlit by the government.
The Order of Physicians has come under fire for not responding to initial warnings concerning Le Scouarnec. And a 2019 report by the Court of Auditors revealed that the institution did not address sexual misconduct allegations “with sufficient rigour”. From 2014 to 2017, 43 percent of complaints were dismissed, and only 12 percent resulted in medical licenses being revoked.
The report even made a direct reference to Le Scouarnec on page 108 when it mentioned the "recent actions of a surgeon" in western France, saying the case was "proof" of how important it is for the Order of Physicians to share information as quickly as possible.
“There is no comprehensive child protection policy in France, and that’s what’s really lacking,” Podevin-Favre points out. “We pile up measures left and right, but we don’t provide the means for a response that is up to par with the issue of child sexual abuse.”
“We have to stay vigilant. And we have to give children the benefit of the doubt,” concludes Brousse.
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