Shorouk Express
Victims of a surgeon accused of raping dozens of children on Tuesday accused his ex-wife of covering up his “paedocriminal activities” for decades.
They spoke out on the second day of the trial of French father-of-three Joël Le Scouarnec, 74, at the Morbihan Criminal Court, in Vannes, Brittany.
Described as France’s ‘worst ever paedophile’, Le Scouarnec is accused of attacking 158 males and 141 females, with an average age of 11, over 30 years.
Marie-France Le Scouarnec, the mother of their three sons, insisted she knew nothing about her “Jekyll and Hyde” ex-husband’s crimes, the court heard.
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Ms Le Scouarnec said: “I wondered how I could have not noticed anything. It’s a terrible betrayal that he committed against me and my children.”
But a letter handwritten by Ms Le Scouarnec in 2010 that was also entered as evidence read: “I ask you to please protect my youngest son, the only one who does not know his father’s past.” This was seven years before detectives arrested Le Scouarnec in connection with offences against minors.
In December 2020, he was sentenced to 15 years for the sexual abuse of four girls: a six-year-old neighbour, a four-year-old patient, and two of his own nieces, who were also four when the abuse started.
In comments that were published and broadcast across France on Tuesday, victims described both Le Scouarnecs as “evil”, and called for Ms Le Scouarnec to be prosecuted too.
Marie-Caroline Arrighi, a spokesman for four victims, said outside court: “She knew. Marie-France Le Scouarnec knew and protected her husband.” Referring to Ms Le Scouarnec’s denials, Ms Arrighi said: “Reading such comments is truly disgusting. We affirm, with supporting evidence, that this woman knew about her husband’s paedocriminal activities well before the case broke in 2017.
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“She knowingly concealed them, allowing him to act for more than 30 years.”
Calling the couple “evil”, Ms Arrighi added: “Reporting sexual crimes and offenses against minors is a legal obligation.” Ms Le Scouarnec was due to give evidence in person in court on Tuesday, but was excused after claiming she had suffered an injury in a minor car accident.
Instead, comments made by her to investigators were read out, along with ones from her three sons.
Le Scouarnec kept meticulous notes outlining his crimes, including one which read: “I am a paedophile and I always will be.” Prosecution evidence also includes a collection of 70 life size child dolls, which Le Scouarnec is said to have used for sexual gratification.
But Ms Le Scouarnec said in an interview that was presented to court by prosecutors: “I was not aware of his inclinations, his dolls. I only learned about his notebooks after his arrest,” adding: “He’s Doctor Jekyll and Mr Hyde. I wondered how I could have not noticed anything. It’s a terrible betrayal that he committed against me and my children.”
Ms Le Scouarnec also said her husband was “an ideal father with his sons. Intelligent, very intelligent, Very open, tender and gentle.” She regretted that her domestic life had in fact been “sewn with lies”. One of her sons said in an interview that Le Scouarnec was “an intelligent man, a little cold, who is interested in many things”, the court heard.
The Le Scouarnecs first met in 1974, when both were in their early 20s, and married soon afterwards, but they have since seperated.
The trial continues, and is expected to conclude in June.
