Others demanded action, like Nicolas Gourlet, who during his testimony in late April asked that “things change so we don’t end up with another Le Scouarnec out there”.
Gourlet was sexually assaulted by Le Scouarnec in 2006 at the age of 13, after undergoing surgery for a cyst on his navel.
We haven’t seen a single political reaction,” Manon Lemoine, who was 11 when she was raped by Le Scouarnec, told AFP.
What has shocked many in the Scouarnec case was the lack of disciplinary action the paedophile received, despite numerous attempts to flag him.
The Order of Physicians has come under fire for not responding to initial warnings concerning Le Scouarnec.
Surrounded by activists, a little more than a dozen victims and their families staged a rally outside a courthouse in western France last week.
A reconstructed crime scene lay at their feet. On a white sheet were symbolic items such as toys, children’s clothing, and a notebook. As though it would be brought in for forensic examination later, each item was assigned a number.
Joël Le Scouarnec, a French paedophile surgeon, has been on trial since February in one of the biggest sex abuse cases in French history. He is accused of raping and abusing 299 child patients between 1989 and 2014.
On May 28, which is tomorrow, a final decision is anticipated.
Victims and organizations fighting child abuse are not only angry at the lack of attention the case has received, but also at the French government’s limited efforts to prevent a crime of this magnitude from occurring again, as the three-month trial comes to an end.
“Shame needs to switch sides.”.
However, it’s not for lack of trying. Those who were abused by Le Scouarnec as children have worked hard to raise awareness of the case and, more generally, child sexual abuse.
Many consented to testify in court, renouncing their right to anonymity during the hearings. Others called for action, such as Nicolas Gourlet, who in his testimony in late April urged that “things change so we don’t end up with another Le Scouarnec out there.”.
When Gourlet was 13 years old and had surgery for a navel cyst, Le Scouarnec sexually assaulted him. His current age is 31.
According to Gourlet, who echoed Gisèle Pelicot’s remarks during the mass rape trial that shook France last year, more and more victims also decided against speaking candidly to the media during the trial in the hopes that “shame changes sides.”.
According to Le Scouarnec’s victims, however, not much has been accomplished in spite of their efforts.
Nothing is taking place. “There hasn’t been any political response,” Manon Lemoine, who was raped by Le Scouarnec when she was eleven years old, told AFP. “We must put our best effort into being heard, to try and get a bit of visibility, a bit of consideration, despite how difficult this trial is for us,” she stated.
The victims’ group has requested that the French government establish a special committee consisting of the children’s commissioner, representatives from the justice and health ministries, and others in order to learn from the Scouarnec case and enhance the government’s response to and prevention of child sexual abuse.
We’re waiting for them to take action regarding this tragedy, even though we haven’t heard back yet,” Lemoine stated.
Gabriel Trouve, who was beaten by Le Scouarnec when he was five years old and admitted to the hospital, feels that the trial should act as a “open-air lab” to reveal “all the systemic failures” that exist and to guarantee that a “solid support and prevention system” is established.
In Betharram’s and Pelicot’s shadow.
People who are upset about the Scouarnec trial’s lack of public attention frequently draw parallels to the Pelicot trial and the recent, highly publicized sex abuse scandal at the Catholic boarding school Notre-Dame de Bétharram.
However, Martine Brousse, president of “La Voix de l’Enfant,” a French organization that fights child abuse, claims that the case against Scouarnec has not received as much attention as the Pelicot or Bétharram trials, in part because the victims of the former surgeon were isolated from the beginning.
Prior to the trial, the majority of them were strangers. Additionally, some people only learned about their abuse or rape during the investigation, while others were aware of it,” Brousse emphasizes.
In the Pelicot trial, a single woman was encircled by feminist groups. “Hundreds of victims united and formed a collective [with a designated spokesperson] in the Bétharram case,” she adds. For the victims of Le Scouarnec, that is not the case. “.”.
A book titled “The Silence of Bétharram” was also released on April 24 by the spokesperson for the Bétharram collective.
Read more French Prime Minister Bayrou will testify in the sex abuse scandal at a Catholic school.
However, there were significant political ramifications to the sex abuse scandal at the Bétharram Catholic school in southwest France. When Prime Minister François Bayrou served as education minister from 1993 to 1997, he was charged with being aware of the pervasive abuse occurring at the school. At the age of 14, Hélène Perlant, one of his own daughters, came forward to report experiencing abuse while enrolled in the school’s summer camp.
Although Bayrou disputes the charges, he was questioned about the abuse by a parliamentary committee, which was one of the most delicate moments of his tenure to date. This heightened discussions about the case in the public and political arenas.
Brousse believes that it is “unfortunately too late” for the victims to garner the same level of attention as the Pelicot and Bétharram cases as the trial draws to a close.
On May 20, Le Scouarnec was last questioned during a hearing held in a courtroom in Vannes, western France.
A long journey to come.
According to Brousse, a lot has changed in the last few decades to better protect kids in medical settings.
French pediatric reception centers, also referred to as “Enfants en Danger” or “Children in Danger,” have proliferated. In order to provide victims with safe housing and support, the specialized service brings together pediatricians, child psychiatrists, forensic physicians, attorneys, and psychologists. All healthcare workers should receive training on violence against children, though it is not required.
According to Brousse, “there is still a long way to go.”. particularly in terms of prevention. “”.
Twenty years prior, in 2005, Le Scouarnec was found guilty of possessing child pornography for the first time. He was fined €90 and sentenced to four months of suspended prison. However, until his arrest in 2017, the paedophile surgeon persisted in abusing children while working in hospitals with no professional restrictions.
According to Solène Podevin-Favre, co-director of Ciivise, an independent commission that gathers testimonies on child sexual violence and incest, “I’m always surprised at how few penalties there are for possessing child pornography.”.
She goes on, “These are people who enjoy witnessing a child being raped.”. “We must appropriately monitor and discipline professionals. “.”.
In 2021, as part of a three-year plan to end violence against children, France made the minimum sentence for possessing and consulting child pornography five years instead of three. Additionally, offenders are now immediately added to a registry that prohibits them from working with children.
The lack of disciplinary action taken against the paedophile in the Scouarnec case, in spite of multiple attempts to flag him, has shocked many.
Read more ‘They knew and did nothing’: Systematic failures revealed in a French surgeon’s sexual abuse trial.
Following Le Scouarnec’s initial conviction, a psychiatrist who worked with him expressed concerns in a 2006 letter to the Order of Physicians, which oversees the French medical establishment. No action was taken despite his doubts about the former surgeon’s capacity to “remain completely calm when treating young children.”.
Instead, Le Scouarnec was promoted to head of surgery at the hospital where they worked, and the director praised his “excellent relations both with patients and their families.”.
In any setting where children are being cared for, such as a hospital, sports club, or school, Brousse says, staff members ought to be routinely required to show documents attesting to their lack of prior convictions for child abuse. That’s the main goal of prevention. ensuring that a predator cannot enter your establishment. “”.
Like Brousse, Podevin-Favre believes that screening should be done on a regular basis for those who work with children. “We must thoroughly review their records to determine whether they are implicated in violent or sexual offenses. To guarantee that kids are safe around them, they are employed annually as well. “”.
The French government accepted Ciivise’s suggestion to require these types of checks. “This indicates that the government is committed to implementing the measure and views it as a priority, but it is still unclear when that will occur and with what resources,” says Podevin Favre.
Read more In the wake of the Pelicot affair, France announces new measures to protect women.
The commission also recommended that doctors report all cases of abuse, “not just for minors under the age of 15, which was the case until now, and ensuring those who report a case are not sanctioned by the Order of Physicians,” according to Podevin-Favre. The government also approved that suggestion.
The failure of the Order of Physicians to act upon early warnings about Le Scouarnec has drawn criticism. The institution did not handle claims of sexual misconduct “with sufficient rigor,” according to a 2019 Court of Auditors report. Just 12% of complaints between 2014 and 2017 led to the revocation of medical licenses, while 43% of complaints were dismissed.
On page 108, the report even directly cited Le Scouarnec, stating that the “recent actions of a surgeon” in western France were “proof” of the importance of the Order of Physicians’ rapid information sharing.
Podevin-Favre notes that “the main deficiency in France is the absence of a comprehensive child protection policy.”. We keep adding policies, but we don’t have the resources to address the problem of child sexual abuse. “”.
“We must continue to be alert. Furthermore, children must be given the benefit of the doubt, says Brousse.
