From February 24th until early June, a trial is being held in Vannes
that we would like to see as extraordinary. But the norm is that men
rape. We have barely overcome the shock of the 83 rapists in Mazan when
we are faced with the trial of 300 child rapes committed by a single
man, known for his pedocriminality for a long time. Just as the trial
begins, the Bétharram school affair breaks, with more than 100
complaints. Pedocriminality is tolerated; silence has covered up the
actions of Joël Le Scouarnec, those of the priests who teach at the
school, and how many others? There were 299 victims present at the
trial, one of whom was raped twice. They were on average 11 years old,
and 256 of them were under 15. There were 158 boys and 141 girls. All
were civil parties against the former surgeon, the prominent figure,
accused of 189 aggravated sexual assaults and 111 aggravated rapes,
committed between 1989 and 2014, in several establishments where Le
Scouarnec practiced as a surgeon specializing in visceral and digestive
surgery.
A career path made possible by institutional tolerance
He began practicing his profession in 1983. Rapes are mentioned in his
notebooks as early as 1989, and he went on to practice in more than 25
establishments. In 2005, he was 55 years old and arrested after traces
of his bank card were found on child pornography websites as part of an
international investigation. He admitted the facts and said he had
stopped. The police found nothing at his home, which he no longer
actually occupied, and did not search his office. He was respectable and
acknowledged a past period of deviance. He was sentenced to a four-month
suspended prison sentence, with no ban on practicing with minors or an
order for treatment. His criminal record was not updated, allowing him
to continue his career. His wife left him, but there was no divorce.
In 2006, a psychiatrist at the Quimperlé hospital where Le Scouarnec
practiced alerted management about his conviction and his dangerousness.
The DDASS[Department of Health and Social Services], the medical
association, the hospital management, the Ministry of Health, and the
relevant authorities were alerted, and colleagues were aware. Despite
this, he continued to practice. In 2008, he was recruited to the Jonzac
hospital in Charente-Maritime, and there again, no action was taken. He
worked there until his first arrest in 2017 after reporting the rape he
inflicted on his 6-year-old neighbor. Bravo to the parents of this child
who heard her, believed her, and defended her, and bravo to the police
officer who accepted and believed their words.
This arrest led to the discovery of several thousand photos and videos
of child abuse, some of them extremely violent; numerous dolls, from
babies to toddlers, some with dildos attached; and his journals in which
he recorded the events and identities. He was sent to the Assize Court
in 2019 for the rape of his little neighbor, two nieces, and a former
patient. He was sentenced in 2020 to fifteen years in prison, a sentence
accompanied by an order for treatment. It was much too late. Also in
2020, he was indicted in the new proceedings involving 312 former patients.
And in early 2025, the trial finally took place. The medical
association, which had done nothing, had the audacity to file a civil
suit. Perhaps he hoped to be compensated for his incompetence...
The Silence of Loved Ones
In 1996, his wife noticed his attraction to young girls and asked him to
destroy all the child pornography he kept at home[2]. He wrote in his
diary that he had destroyed the account of 10 years of abuse. From then
on, she would sleep in her own room and keep it a secret. He didn't only
rape in the hospital. In 1997, her sister, in whom she confided, told
her she had caught him kissing her daughter's buttocks; they never left
him alone with him again. A little later, her sister-in-law (Le
Scouarnec's sister) told her about the assaults her daughters had
recounted, and his simple request that he seek treatment. The wife would
say everything was fine, that it was in the past. The girls would later
insist that the grandparents be informed; they asked for silence, so as
not to "destroy the family." Sunday meals continued, despite the tears.
Interviewed in 2017, they filed a complaint and were given access to the
written description of the assaults they had suffered. Around the same
time, he assaulted the son of a couple who were friends. They would no
longer see each other, but nothing would come of it. Other friends would
drift apart for the same reasons, always in silence. Since 2003, he has
been living alone near his new workplace. All his relatives have moved
away, but no one has said anything publicly. There have been no
complaints, no denunciations. He can continue to rape in his workplace
without hesitation.
Abused Victims
In the 1970s, intellectuals learnedly explained (but against the grain
of society) that children could desire adults and consent to sexual
relations with them[3]. Those days are over, and child sexual activity
is considered for what it is: abuse, violence, and crimes. Yet the
silence persists, and children, whether victims or witnesses, still
struggle to be believed.
If everyone had taken the necessary measures to prevent Le Scouarnec
from causing harm from the first known attacks, from the first arrest,
already late in his career, if no one had covered up his acts of
pedocriminality, so many victims would not have been. Many of the rapes
were committed under anesthesia, but still left behind memories and
trauma, unexplained suffering. Most of the victims learned they had been
raped by being summoned to the police station, some without precautions
or support; others learned of the trial and its date from the press and
realized they were involved.
During the trial, the victims were relegated to an amphitheater far from
their lawyers and the courtroom because there were too many of them.
It's a safe bet that for 300 victims of an Islamist terrorist attack,
the justice system would have found a venue for everyone to attend the
trial in dignified conditions: following the 2015 attacks, an
exceptional temporary courtroom with 550 seats was built specifically
for the trial.
Christine (UCL Sarthe)
1. Departmental Directorates of Health and Social Affairs, the
forerunner of the Regional Health Agencies (ARS) created in 2010. 2.
Marika Mathieu, L'impuni: histoire d'un déni collectif (The Impunity:
History of a Collective Denial), Studiofact, 2025. 3.
https://www.radiofrance.fr/franceculture/quand-des-intellectuels-francais-defendaient-la-pedophilie-2026242.
It is important to note that libertarian communists were no exception:
Daniel Guérin co-signed several articles defending sexuality with minors.
SGBV against minors: the figures
While sexist and sexual violence against children and adolescents is
often ignored, it is nonetheless horrifyingly common. To give an idea of
the scale of the problem, it was estimated in 2023 that in France:
160,000 children are victims of sexual violence each year, or 2 to 3 per
school class, or one child every three minutes;
5.4 million adults were victims in their childhood, or nearly one in ten
people;
Nearly 40% of sexual violence before the age of 18 occurs before the age
of eleven;
96% of perpetrators in cases of SGBV committed against minors are men;
In the family setting, the median age of victims is 7 for girls and 8
for boys; one in four incest victims was under 5 at the time of the
incident;
In childhood, 13% of women and 5.5% of men experienced sexual violence.
4.6% of women and 1.2% of men experience incestuous violence.
These figures are available in the November 2023 CIIVISE report, the
September 2023 press kit for the government's campaign to combat sexual
violence against children, and the June 2023 INED survey on sexual
violence during childhood and adolescence.
https://www.unioncommunistelibertaire.org/?Pedocriminalite-30-ans-de-viols-pedocriminels-300-victimes-et-le-silence
_________________________________________
A - I N F O S N E W S S E R V I C E
By, For, and About Anarchists
Send news reports to A-infos-en mailing list
A-infos-en@ainfos.ca
that we would like to see as extraordinary. But the norm is that men
rape. We have barely overcome the shock of the 83 rapists in Mazan when
we are faced with the trial of 300 child rapes committed by a single
man, known for his pedocriminality for a long time. Just as the trial
begins, the Bétharram school affair breaks, with more than 100
complaints. Pedocriminality is tolerated; silence has covered up the
actions of Joël Le Scouarnec, those of the priests who teach at the
school, and how many others? There were 299 victims present at the
trial, one of whom was raped twice. They were on average 11 years old,
and 256 of them were under 15. There were 158 boys and 141 girls. All
were civil parties against the former surgeon, the prominent figure,
accused of 189 aggravated sexual assaults and 111 aggravated rapes,
committed between 1989 and 2014, in several establishments where Le
Scouarnec practiced as a surgeon specializing in visceral and digestive
surgery.
A career path made possible by institutional tolerance
He began practicing his profession in 1983. Rapes are mentioned in his
notebooks as early as 1989, and he went on to practice in more than 25
establishments. In 2005, he was 55 years old and arrested after traces
of his bank card were found on child pornography websites as part of an
international investigation. He admitted the facts and said he had
stopped. The police found nothing at his home, which he no longer
actually occupied, and did not search his office. He was respectable and
acknowledged a past period of deviance. He was sentenced to a four-month
suspended prison sentence, with no ban on practicing with minors or an
order for treatment. His criminal record was not updated, allowing him
to continue his career. His wife left him, but there was no divorce.
In 2006, a psychiatrist at the Quimperlé hospital where Le Scouarnec
practiced alerted management about his conviction and his dangerousness.
The DDASS[Department of Health and Social Services], the medical
association, the hospital management, the Ministry of Health, and the
relevant authorities were alerted, and colleagues were aware. Despite
this, he continued to practice. In 2008, he was recruited to the Jonzac
hospital in Charente-Maritime, and there again, no action was taken. He
worked there until his first arrest in 2017 after reporting the rape he
inflicted on his 6-year-old neighbor. Bravo to the parents of this child
who heard her, believed her, and defended her, and bravo to the police
officer who accepted and believed their words.
This arrest led to the discovery of several thousand photos and videos
of child abuse, some of them extremely violent; numerous dolls, from
babies to toddlers, some with dildos attached; and his journals in which
he recorded the events and identities. He was sent to the Assize Court
in 2019 for the rape of his little neighbor, two nieces, and a former
patient. He was sentenced in 2020 to fifteen years in prison, a sentence
accompanied by an order for treatment. It was much too late. Also in
2020, he was indicted in the new proceedings involving 312 former patients.
And in early 2025, the trial finally took place. The medical
association, which had done nothing, had the audacity to file a civil
suit. Perhaps he hoped to be compensated for his incompetence...
The Silence of Loved Ones
In 1996, his wife noticed his attraction to young girls and asked him to
destroy all the child pornography he kept at home[2]. He wrote in his
diary that he had destroyed the account of 10 years of abuse. From then
on, she would sleep in her own room and keep it a secret. He didn't only
rape in the hospital. In 1997, her sister, in whom she confided, told
her she had caught him kissing her daughter's buttocks; they never left
him alone with him again. A little later, her sister-in-law (Le
Scouarnec's sister) told her about the assaults her daughters had
recounted, and his simple request that he seek treatment. The wife would
say everything was fine, that it was in the past. The girls would later
insist that the grandparents be informed; they asked for silence, so as
not to "destroy the family." Sunday meals continued, despite the tears.
Interviewed in 2017, they filed a complaint and were given access to the
written description of the assaults they had suffered. Around the same
time, he assaulted the son of a couple who were friends. They would no
longer see each other, but nothing would come of it. Other friends would
drift apart for the same reasons, always in silence. Since 2003, he has
been living alone near his new workplace. All his relatives have moved
away, but no one has said anything publicly. There have been no
complaints, no denunciations. He can continue to rape in his workplace
without hesitation.
Abused Victims
In the 1970s, intellectuals learnedly explained (but against the grain
of society) that children could desire adults and consent to sexual
relations with them[3]. Those days are over, and child sexual activity
is considered for what it is: abuse, violence, and crimes. Yet the
silence persists, and children, whether victims or witnesses, still
struggle to be believed.
If everyone had taken the necessary measures to prevent Le Scouarnec
from causing harm from the first known attacks, from the first arrest,
already late in his career, if no one had covered up his acts of
pedocriminality, so many victims would not have been. Many of the rapes
were committed under anesthesia, but still left behind memories and
trauma, unexplained suffering. Most of the victims learned they had been
raped by being summoned to the police station, some without precautions
or support; others learned of the trial and its date from the press and
realized they were involved.
During the trial, the victims were relegated to an amphitheater far from
their lawyers and the courtroom because there were too many of them.
It's a safe bet that for 300 victims of an Islamist terrorist attack,
the justice system would have found a venue for everyone to attend the
trial in dignified conditions: following the 2015 attacks, an
exceptional temporary courtroom with 550 seats was built specifically
for the trial.
Christine (UCL Sarthe)
1. Departmental Directorates of Health and Social Affairs, the
forerunner of the Regional Health Agencies (ARS) created in 2010. 2.
Marika Mathieu, L'impuni: histoire d'un déni collectif (The Impunity:
History of a Collective Denial), Studiofact, 2025. 3.
https://www.radiofrance.fr/franceculture/quand-des-intellectuels-francais-defendaient-la-pedophilie-2026242.
It is important to note that libertarian communists were no exception:
Daniel Guérin co-signed several articles defending sexuality with minors.
SGBV against minors: the figures
While sexist and sexual violence against children and adolescents is
often ignored, it is nonetheless horrifyingly common. To give an idea of
the scale of the problem, it was estimated in 2023 that in France:
160,000 children are victims of sexual violence each year, or 2 to 3 per
school class, or one child every three minutes;
5.4 million adults were victims in their childhood, or nearly one in ten
people;
Nearly 40% of sexual violence before the age of 18 occurs before the age
of eleven;
96% of perpetrators in cases of SGBV committed against minors are men;
In the family setting, the median age of victims is 7 for girls and 8
for boys; one in four incest victims was under 5 at the time of the
incident;
In childhood, 13% of women and 5.5% of men experienced sexual violence.
4.6% of women and 1.2% of men experience incestuous violence.
These figures are available in the November 2023 CIIVISE report, the
September 2023 press kit for the government's campaign to combat sexual
violence against children, and the June 2023 INED survey on sexual
violence during childhood and adolescence.
https://www.unioncommunistelibertaire.org/?Pedocriminalite-30-ans-de-viols-pedocriminels-300-victimes-et-le-silence
_________________________________________
A - I N F O S N E W S S E R V I C E
By, For, and About Anarchists
Send news reports to A-infos-en mailing list
A-infos-en@ainfos.ca
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