Portugal Colonial - French surgeon says deserves no 'leniency' after abusing child patients

Joel Le Scouarnec, 74, has admitted sexually assaulting or raping 299 patients -- 256 of them under 15 -- in hospitals in western France between 1989 and 2014, many while they were under anaesthesia or waking up after operations.

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.

"I am not asking the court for leniency," Le Scouarnec said in his closing statement. "Simply grant me the right to become a better person," he added.

The verdict from the court in Vannes in the western Brittany region is expected on Wednesday.

"You were the devil and he sometimes is dressed in a white coat," prosecutor Stephane Kellenberger told Le Scouarnec on Friday, adding that an additional trial could be required to cover the cases of further victims whose abuse is not part of the current case.

- 'Not asking to escape' -

Le Scouarnec is charged in this trial with 111 rapes and 189 sexual assaults and is set to emerge this week as one of the most prolific convicted sex predators in France's history.

His defence team said he was not contesting the accusations or the prosecutor's sentencing request but insisted his expressions of regret towards the victims were genuine, despite many not believing him.

"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'," Tessier said.

"The court must be convinced of Joel Le Scouarnec's sincerity."

He has repeated apologies almost mechanically over the weeks of the trial, sometimes word for word, in a monotone voice.

While the surgeon admitted responsibility, he also repeatedly said he did not remember his acts.

"Sometimes harsh realities must be faced, and I hope the court will not overlook this reality of crystal clear perversion, which presents an extremely serious risk of danger," said Marie Grimaud, a lawyer representing dozens of victims.

- 'Learn lessons' -

The months of hearings have been marked by horror over the acts of the ex-surgeon -- who confessed to the abuse -- but also frustration over the failure of medical and judicial authorities to act sooner.

The former surgeon practised for decades until his retirement in 2017, despite a 2005 conviction for owning sexually abusive images of children.

Le Scouarnec is already in prison after being sentenced in December 2020 to 15 years for raping and sexually assaulting four children, including two of his nieces.

Some parties in the trial voiced frustration that it had not had the impact in France they had hoped for in the media and politics.

The case has not won the level of attention given to that of Dominique Pelicot, who was jailed last year for recruiting dozens of strangers to rape his now ex-wife Gisele.

Earlier this month, around 20 victims of Le Scouarnec and their relatives staged a protest in front of the court over the "silence of the political world".

They demanded "an interministerial commission" to "learn lessons" from the Le Scouarnec case and prevent similar events from happening again.

"We are appalled to see that this 'trial of the century' is not a watershed event in the eyes of the government and, more broadly, the general public," the group said.

"They're trying to make him out to be a monster, but this monster is the society that created him and allowed him to persist," said Manon Lemoine, now 36, one of the victims who Le Scouarnec admits to raping when she was 11.

She said that if Le Scouarnec is not sentenced to supervised confinement even after any release it would be a "disgrace".

"Experts have explained that he remains dangerous," she said.

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X.M.Francisco--PC