The ex-wife of a French former surgeon on trial for allegedly assaulting or raping 299 patients insisted on Wednesday, February 26, that she "suspected nothing" of his crimes following accusations by the physician's brother that she was in the know and failed to act.
Retired surgeon Joël Le Scouarnec, 74, has been on trial in the western city of Vannes since Monday in one of the country's largest child sex abuse cases. A total of 256 of the victims were under 15 at the time, the youngest aged one and the oldest 70.
"There's nothing to make me think this. Nothing, nothing, nothing (...) I never had any doubts," his ex-wife Marie-France told the court. Marie-France, 71, who divorced Le Scouarnec in 2023, accused his niece of "lying" about sexual violence committed by the former surgeon and denied knowing about pedophile tendencies.
Earlier in the day, the doctor's younger brother Patrick Le Scouarnec told the court that Marie-France "could have made sure that my brother was arrested." Patrick Le Scouarnec admitted to a strong feeling of dislike toward his brother's then wife and acknowledged that he had no "proof" to support his claims.
The brother accused Marie-France of "loving her husband for his money" and having sexual relations with other men while she was married. He also said Joël should be imprisoned for life. "It would be good for society," he added.
The former surgeon is already in jail, having been found guilty in 2020 of abusing four children, including two of his nieces. He previously served a suspended jail sentence in 2005 for owning sexually abusive images of children. Despite that verdict and colleagues raising concerns about him, the surgeon practiced for decades until his retirement.
In the latest trial, Joël Le Scouarnec faces allegations that he assaulted or raped 299 patients at a dozen hospitals between 1989 and 2014, in many cases while they were waking up from anesthetic or during post-op checkups. If convicted, he faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.
Five years his junior, Patrick claimed to have cut all ties with Joël since he was arrested in 2017. The defendant asked his brother to forgive him.
"I committed the worst of crimes, I know it is unforgivable, and I know you will never forgive me," Joël Le Scouarnec said. "But in the name of our memories, I ask for your forgiveness," he added. Marie-France, dressed in dark clothing, told the court she had an "excellent" relationship with her ex-husband, while casting doubt on the word of one of his nieces who accused him of rape.
"Until she was an adult, she was always hanging around my husband's neck," she said, calling her "a tortuous little girl."
Le Scouarnec is serving a 15-year sentence for the 2020 conviction. Other sexual assaults, including another niece, have not been tried because the statute of limitations has expired. Marie-France, who claims to have been raped twice, including once as a child by her maternal uncle, said she kept quiet at the time to protect her mother.
Le Scouarnec meticulously documented his crimes, noting his victims' names, ages and addresses and the nature of the abuse. In his notes, the doctor describes himself as a "major pervert" and a "pedophile." "And I am very happy about it," he wrote.
Under French law, rape is "any act of sexual penetration, of whatever nature, or any oral-genital act committed on another person or on the person of the perpetrator through violence, coercion, threat or surprise."
The case has caused outrage in a country still traumatized by the revelations of the recent trial of Dominique Pelicot, who was convicted of enlisting dozens of strangers to rape his heavily sedated wife.
Victims and child rights advocates say Le Scouarnec's case highlights systemic shortcomings that allowed him to repeatedly commit sexual crimes. On Tuesday two sons of the former surgeon, aged 37 and 42, told the court of the devastation their father's case had wrought on the family. Le Scouarnec's 42-year-old son said his father's "perversion exploded like an atomic bomb" in the family.
He told the court he had himself been raped and sexually abused by his grandfather, Le Scouarnec's father, from the age of five to 10 years old. Marie Grimaud, a lawyer representing 39 victims, said that Le Scouarnec's children grew up in a family where many things were not discussed.
"Taboos existed, there were unspoken things," she said.