France Launches Inquiry into Systemic Failures That Enabled Paedophile Surgeon’s Abuse
Paris, July 19, 2025:
French prosecutors have opened a full judicial inquiry into widespread systemic failures that allowed convicted paedophile surgeon Joel Le Scouarnec to operate in hospitals and sexually abuse hundreds of children over several decades, despite multiple red flags and a prior conviction.
The decision comes after a French court in May sentenced Le Scouarnec to 20 years in prison, following his confession to sexually abusing or raping 298 patients between 1989 and 2014 — including over 250 children under the age of 15.
According to Stephane Kellenberger, the prosecutor in Lorient, a new judicial investigation was ordered last month to determine how institutional failures allowed the former doctor to remain in practice for so long. This investigation follows a preliminary probe launched in 2020, when Le Scouarnec was first convicted for abusing four minors, including two of his own nieces.
“We must understand how such crimes could have gone undetected for so long,” said Kellenberger.
Alarming History Ignored
An AFP investigation revealed that Le Scouarnec continued practicing medicine despite a 2005 conviction for possessing child sexual abuse material. Even more disturbing, colleagues and health administrators had previously reported him as unfit to practice, but these warnings were either ignored or not acted upon.
In 2006, Le Scouarnec was promoted — despite his criminal record not being updated in official databases. Internal documents from local and regional health agencies showed that his record appeared “clean” at the time.
Later, after a regional investigation into a suspicious hospital death, he quietly transferred to another facility in southwestern France. The full scope of his abuses was not uncovered until 2017, after his retirement, when a six-year-old girl accused him of rape and police subsequently discovered diaries detailing countless other assaults.
National Reckoning
The case has triggered national outrage and a reckoning over medical oversight in France. During the trial, the National Order of Physicians, a civil party in the case, admitted to “regrettable dysfunctions” that enabled Le Scouarnec to work without scrutiny.
A victims’ support hotline was launched this week to assist survivors, family members, and medical professionals affected by the revelations. Victims’ groups are also calling for comprehensive reforms to ensure stricter background checks, ongoing monitoring of medical practitioners, and stronger accountability for hospital administrators.
Authorities are also investigating the possibility of additional victims, and whether other officials knowingly allowed Le Scouarnec to remain in practice.
“This is not just a case of one predator,” said a spokesperson from a victims’ collective. “This is a failure of the entire system that should have protected the most vulnerable.”
The inquiry represents one of the most significant attempts by the French judiciary to address institutional failures in the healthcare system relating to child abuse.
