Diaries of a monster: French surgeon’s record details a catalogue of child abuse
Warning: This article contains references to suicide and material readers might find disturbing
Every year, on his birthday, Joel Le Scouarnec composed an entry in his diary. First, he would record his age. Then he would write: “I am a paedophile, and I am proud of it.”
To the rest of the world, he seemed like a respected medical professional, a surgeon who cared for thousands of patients and provided support to their relatives. But Le Scouarnec, now 74, hid a dark secret – his compulsion to abuse children.
Former surgeon Joel Le Scouarnec
He’s now on trial, accused of a litany of sex crimes involving 299 alleged victims, almost all of whom were his patients, and most of whom were children. In total, he’s accused of 300 separate offences – 111 rapes and 189 sexual assaults – which took place across 25 years in more than a dozen hospitals.
The average age of his alleged victims was just 11 years old, split almost equally between boys and girls. He was eventually stopped in 2017, following investigations that involved multiple police forces and even the FBI.
It is a long and horrific list, agonisingly detailed by the prosecution, but it boils down to one fact – Le Scouarnec is alleged to be the most prolific child abuser ever apprehended in France and, perhaps, in all of Europe.
Quimperle Hospital
After decades of allegedly abusing patients without any repercussions, Le Scouarnec seemed to believe he was invincible. His crimes finally came to light when his six-year-old neighbour told her mother he had sexually abused her while she was playing in the garden of her home, in the town of Jonzac in southwest France.
The investigations that followed led to his conviction and imprisonment for raping and sexually assaulting four young girls in 2020. But evidence recovered by the police during that investigation revealed abuse on a far wider scale.
When the police entered Le Scouarnec’s house, they found a scene that was both sinister and shocking. There were 300,000 indecent photos and videos of children (some hard copies and some on computers), 70 child-sized dolls – some of which were chained up – wigs and, crucially, hundreds of notebooks and diaries detailing his acts of abuse.
‘This man destroyed my life’
This macabre discovery went on to change the lives of hundreds of people who had been unaware they were victims of Le Scouarnec’s crimes. Among them was Marie*. Now in her late thirties, she was just 10 years old when she was hospitalised suffering from acute appendicitis. Joel Le Scouarnec was her surgeon. In his diaries, he wrote about abusing her while she was under anaesthesia.
For many years, Marie, like many of the alleged victims, didn’t know she’d been assaulted, until a visit from the police shed light on a feeling that something had happened to her body which she couldn’t explain.
“This man destroyed my life and the lives of so many children… When I heard I was among the alleged victims, I told myself that’s the missing jigsaw piece,” said Marie. “I was shocked but then I began to make a connection between this and the problems I had experienced, especially regarding my issue with intimacy and relationships with men.”
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The FBI raised the alarm
In 2004, as part of a global investigation into paedophile networks, the FBI found evidence Le Scouarnec had shared and downloaded pornographic images of children via a website based in the United States.
The FBI alerted French authorities and the former surgeon was arrested and then charged with possession of indecent images of minors. In 2005, the case was heard in court and he was given a four-month suspended sentence. What happened is a shocking example of how this doctor’s activities were ignored, leaving him to continue his alleged abuse.
In 2006, a psychiatrist working at the same hospital as Le Scouarnec wrote to the management, expressing concern that the surgeon was practising on children despite having a conviction for sharing images on paedophile websites.
The letter was referred to the ombudsman. A similar letter of concern was sent by a trade union representing healthcare workers. But no further action was taken.
In 2008, he transferred to practise at another hospital in Jonzac. The hospital’s director had the surgeon’s file, which contained the documents regarding his previous convictions and letters of concern from colleagues, but chose to employ him.
That same year, an anaesthetist at the same hospital was convicted of possessing and sharing indecent images of children. He, too, was also allowed to continue to practise at the hospital and treat young patients.
Lawyer Francesca Satta represents some of the victims
‘He could have been stopped’
“Nobody will attack a high-ranking surgeon,” said Francesca Satta, a lawyer representing some of Le Scouarnec’s alleged victims, adding that the surgeon was “overlooked” because of his position.
She added: “The evidence was there. There were searches at his home and they found indecent images of children. The diaries existed but were not discovered… he could have been stopped.”
If, in 2006, he’d been prevented from treating children, there would be at least 20 fewer alleged victims in this case.
Among them was a little boy named Mathis Vinet.
Mathis Vinet’s grandparents have spoken out
His grandparents, Roland and Mauricette, welcomed us into their home with warm handshakes and cups of coffee. Their living room was filled with books and family photos. But they were on edge; burdened by grief and anger, mixed with a desperate desire for justice.
Their grandson, Mathis, was just 10 years old when he was taken to hospital with stomach pains and came under the care of Joel Le Scouarnec.
“He admitted our grandson and examined him,” Roland recalled, adding that the surgeon said Mathis needed to stay in hospital overnight. “He said if anything urgent happened we would be alerted.”
Le Scouarnec told the family to leave Mathis in his care. That night, he allegedly abused the boy as he lay in bed. His grandparents still have the discharge paper, signed by the former surgeon.
Roland and Mauricette say their grandson was abused
That day changed Mathis completely, according to his family.
The young boy who enjoyed helping his grandfather in the garden was replaced by a troubled youth whose life unravelled as he fell into addiction.
Like most of the other alleged victims, he remained unaware that he’d been attacked by Le Scouarnec until told by the police, more than a decade later.
“There was a knock at the door,” Mauricette remembers. “Mathis was alone. He’d started using drugs, so he thought he might be in trouble. When they left, having told him… his world came crashing in around him. He had flashbacks and called us the next day to say he was in a bad place.”
“He took drugs to make himself feel better… but it didn’t work.”
On the table, there is a picture of Mathis as a boy, beaming. In later pictures, he looks more sombre, as if he has turned in on himself.
In 2021, he took his own life, aged just 24 years old.
‘To call him a monster is an understatement’
Le Scouarnec doesn’t deny his abuse of many of the young children about whom he wrote in his diaries. He told investigators he did everything he wrote about, but didn’t realise how many children there were.
“We can call him a monster but it’s an understatement,” said Satta, who has worked across cases involving violent murderers and notorious criminals. “He has just one thing on his mind, 24/7, and that is sexually abusing young children.”
A letter with Joel Le Scouarnec’s signature
But there is another troubling unknown in this case. During the trial, 299 alleged victims will air their accusations against Le Scouarnec in court, but there could be more.
At least two years of diaries disappeared, which means more former patients of Le Scouarnec could still be unaware of what happened to them as children.
The case against the former surgeon involves so many victims, that a normal courtroom is not big enough. An annexe will be opened to accommodate the hundreds of victims, lawyers, family members, journalists and members of the public who will follow the proceedings over the next four months.
The victims will gather in a lecture theatre to watch the trial on a big screen. It is the sort of room that you might find anywhere, but as you look around, at the hundreds of seats, you are reminded that each one of these has been allocated to an alleged victim.
There are so many questions that haven’t been answered. How could so many chances to stop him have been missed? Does French society have an inbuilt fear of exposing sexual crimes? Did Le Scouarnec really act alone, or did he have a network with others?
But, above all, will these victims feel a sense of closure if the allegations against Le Scouarnec are upheld?
For Marie, it’s about protecting others. “This man is a predator of children. His place is in prison and he needs to stay there.”
Most of the alleged victims were children when they last saw Joel Le Scouarnec. Now they return as adults, to confront him in court.
Some of the pain they suffered due to abuse in a hospital may yet be healed by the punishment of a court.
*name has been changed
Anyone feeling emotionally distressed or suicidal can call Samaritans for help on 116 123 or email jo@samaritans.org in the UK. In the US, call the Samaritans branch in your area or 1 (800) 273-TALK
An Israeli delegation is heading to Qatar for indirect talks with Hamas on a possible hostage and ceasefire deal in Gaza.
The development comes ahead of a meeting between Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and US President Donald Trump in Washington DC on Monday aimed at pushing forward peace efforts.
The US leader has been increasing pressure on the Israeli government and Hamas to secure a permanent ceasefire and an end to the 21-month-long war in Gaza.
Smoke rises in Gaza following an explosion. Pic: Reuters
Mr Trump said on Tuesday on social media that Israel had agreed “to the necessary conditions to finalise” a deal on a truce.
And Hamas, which runs the coastal Palestinian territory, said on Friday it has responded to the US-backed proposal in a “positive spirit”.
So what is in the plan?
The plan is for an initial 60-day ceasefire that would include a partial release of hostages held by the militant group in exchange for more humanitarian supplies being allowed into Gaza.
The proposed truce calls for talks on ending the war altogether.
The war in Gaza began after Hamas attacked Israel on 7 October 2023, killing 1,200 people and taking 250 others hostage. Dozens of hostages have since been released or rescued by Israeli forces, while 50 remain in captivity, including about 30 who Israel believes are dead.
The proposal would reportedly see about half of the living hostages and about half of the dead hostages returned to Israel over 60 days, in five separate releases.
Eight living hostages would be freed on the first day and two released on the 50th day, according to an Arab diplomat from one of the mediating countries, it is reported.
Five dead hostages would be returned on the seventh day, five more on the 30th day and eight more on the 60th day.
That would leave 22 hostages still held in Gaza, 10 of them believed to be alive. It is not clear whether Israel or Hamas would determine who is to be released.
Hamas has sought guarantees that the initial truce would lead to a total end to the war and the withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza.
A Hamas official has said Mr Trump has guaranteed that the ceasefire will extend beyond 60 days if necessary to reach a peace deal, but there is no confirmation from the US of such a guarantee.
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Possible challenges ahead
And in a sign of the potential challenges still facing the two sides, a Palestinian official from a militant group allied with Hamas said concerns remained.
The concerns were over humanitarian aid, passage through the Rafah crossing in southern Israel to Egypt and clarity over a timetable for Israeli troop withdrawals.
Hamas’s “positive” response to the proposal had slightly different wording on three issues around humanitarian aid, the status of the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) inside Gaza and the language around guarantees beyond the 60-day ceasefire, a source with knowledge of the negotiations revealed.
But the source told Sky News: “Things are looking good.”
The Times of Israel reported Hamas has proposed three amendments to the proposed framework.
According to a source, Hamas wants the agreement to say that talks on a permanent ceasefire will continue until an agreement is reached; that aid will fully resume through mechanisms backed by the United Nations and other international aid organisations; and that the IDF withdraws to positions it maintained before the collapse of the previous ceasefire in March.
Mr Netanyahu’s office said in a statement that changes sought by Hamas to the ceasefire proposal were “not acceptable to Israel”.
However, his office said the delegation would still fly to Qatar to “continue efforts to secure the return of our hostages based on the Qatari proposal that Israel agreed to”.
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Another potential challenge is that Mr Netanyahu has repeatedly said Hamas must be disarmed, which is a demand the militant group has so far refused to discuss.
Hamas has said it is willing to free all the hostages in exchange for a full withdrawal of Israeli troops and an end to the war in Gaza.
Israel rejects that offer, saying it will agree to end the war if Hamas surrenders, disarms and goes into exile – something that the group refuses.
Previous negotiations have stalled over Hamas demands of guarantees that further negotiations would lead to the war’s end, while Mr Netanyahu has insisted Israel would resume fighting to ensure the group’s destruction.
They rose to their feet in ecstatic surprise, shouting “heydar, heydar” – a Shia victory chant.
This was the first public appearance of their supreme leader since Israel began attacking their country.
He emerged during evening prayers in his private compound. He said nothing but looked stern and resolute as he waved to the crowd.
He has spent the last weeks sequestered in a bunker, it is assumed, for his safety following numerous death threats from Israel and the US.
His re-emergence suggests a return to normality and a sense of defiance that we have witnessed here on the streets of Tehran too.
Earlier, we had filmed as men in black marched through the streets of the capital to the sound of mournful chants and the slow beat of drums, whipping their backs with metal flails.
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Defiance on streets of Tehran
This weekend they mark the Shia festival of Ashura as they have for 14 centuries. But this year has poignant significance for Iranians far more than most.
The devout remember the betrayal and death of Imam Hussein as if it happened yesterday. We filmed men and women weeping as they worshipped at the Imamzadeh Saleh Shrine in northern Tehran.
The armies of the Caliph Yazid killed the grandson of the Prophet Muhammad in the seventh-century Battle of Karbala.
Shiite Muslims mark the anniversary every year and reflect on the virtue it celebrates, of resistance against oppression and injustice.
But more so than ever in the wake of Israel and America’s attacks on their country.
The story is one of prevailing over adversity and deception. A sense of betrayal is keenly felt here among people and officials.
Listen to The World with Richard Engel and Yalda Hakim every Wednesday
Many Iranians believe they were lured into pursuing diplomacy as part of a ruse by the US.
Iran believed it was making diplomatic progress in talks with America it hoped could lead to a deal. Then Israel launched its attacks and, instead of condemning them, the US joined in.
Death to Israel chants resounded outside the mosque in skies which were filled for 12 days with the sounds of Israeli jets. There is a renewed sense of defiance here.
One man told us: “The lesson to be learned from Hussein is not to give in to oppression even if it is the most powerful force in the world.”
A woman was dismissive about the US president. “I don’t think about Trump, nobody likes him. He always wants to attack too many countries.”
Pictures on billboards nearby draw a line between Imam Hussein’s story and current events. The seventh-century imam on horseback alongside images of modern missiles and drones from the present day.
Other huge signs remember the dead. Iran says almost 1,000 people were killed in the strikes, many of them women and children.
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Officially Iran is projecting defiance but not closing the door to diplomacy.
Government spokeswoman Dr Fatemeh Mohajerani told Sky News that Israel should not even think about attacking again.
“We are very strong in defence and as state officials have announced, this time Israel will receive an even stronger response compared to previous times,” she said.
“We hope that Israel will not make such a mistake.”
But there is also a hint of conciliation: Senior Iranian officials have told Sky News that back-channel efforts are under way to explore new talks with the US.
Israel had hoped its attacks could topple the Iranian leadership. That proved unfounded, the government is in control here.
For many Iranians, it seems quite the opposite happened – the 12-day war has brought them closer together.
To the sound of mournful chants and the slow beat of drums, they march, whipping their backs with metal flails.
It is an ancient ceremony going back almost 14 centuries – the Shia commemoration of Ashura.
But this year in particular has poignant significance for Iranians.
The devout remember the betrayal and death of the Imam Hussein as if it happened yesterday.
Iranians gather ahead of Ashura
We filmed men and women weep as they worshipped at the Imamzadeh Saleh Shrine in northern Tehran.
The grandson of the Prophet Muhammad was killed by the armies of the Caliph Yazid in the seventh century Battle of Karbala.
Shia Muslims mark the anniversary every year and reflect on the virtue it celebrates – of resistance against oppression and injustice. But more so than ever this year, in the wake of Israel and America’s attacks on their country.
The story is one of prevailing over adversity and deception. A sense of betrayal is keenly felt here by people and officials.
Men and women weeped as they worshipped at the Imamzadeh Saleh Shrine
Many Iranians believe they were lured into pursuing diplomacy as part of a ruse by the US.
Iran believed it was making diplomatic progress in talks with America, which it hoped could lead to a deal. Then Israel launched its attacks and, instead of condemning them, the US joined in.
“Death to Israel” chants resounded outside the mosque in skies that for 12 days were filled with the sounds of Israeli jets.
There is a renewed sense of defiance here.
One man told us: “The lesson to be learned from Hussein is not to give in to oppression, even if it is the most powerful force in the world.”
‘I don’t think about Trump. Nobody likes him,’ one woman tells Sky News
A woman was dismissive about the US president.
“I don’t think about Trump. Nobody likes him. He always wants to attack too many countries.”
Pictures on billboards nearby link Imam Hussein’s story and current events. They show the seventh century imam on horseback alongside images of modern missiles and drones from the present day.
Other huge signs remember the dead. Iran says almost 1,000 people were killed in the strikes, many of them women and children.
Officially Iran is projecting defiance, but not closing the door to diplomacy.
Government spokeswoman Dr Fatemeh Mohajerani told Sky News that Israel should not even think about attacking again.
“We are very strong in defence, and as state officials have announced, this time Israel will receive an even stronger response compared to previous times. We hope that Israel will not make such a mistake.”
Dr Fatemeh Mohajerani said it would be a mistake for Israel to attack again
But there is also a hint of conciliation. Senior Iranian officials have told Sky News back-channel efforts are under way to explore new talks with the US.
Israel had hoped its attacks could topple the Iranian leadership. Those hopes proved unfounded. The government is in control here.
For many Iranians it seems quite the opposite happened – the 12-day war has brought them closer together.
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