Joël Le Scouarnec, a once highly respected surgeon, is now standing trial after being charged with raping and sexual abusing 299 people, many of whom were children.

The trial comes as French activists are pushing to lift taboos that surround sexual abuse. The most prominent case was that of Gisèle Pélicot, who was raped by her now ex-husband and dozens of others.

Joël Le Scouarnec is charged with raping or sexually assaulting 299 people, mostly his young patients. His family’s testimony suggested a culture of silence around sexual abuse by him and others.

The ex-wife of a former surgeon at the center of France’s largest ever child sexual abuse case told a court Wednesday insisted she knew “nothing” of her husband’s near 30-year history of abusing children.

A former surgeon is accused of raping or sexually assaulting 299 people, mostly children, over 25 years. It is considered to be France’s largest-ever pedophilia case.

A retired surgeon accused of raping and sexually assaulting hundreds of young patients, some while they were under anesthetic, told the opening of his trial in western France on Monday that he had committed "despicable" acts.

A former surgeon is accused of raping or sexually abusing 299 victims, mainly his pediatric patients, and detailing over 30 years of the abuse in journals.

A former surgeon accused of abusing 299 young patients has accepted responsibility for the "vast majority" of the charges he faces as his trial begins, per reports.

Maxime Tessier, one of the lawyers of French surgeon Joel Le Scouarnec accused of raping or abusing 299 people, mostly child patients, speaks to the media at the Vannes courthouse, western France, on the opening day of the trial, Monday, Feb. 24, 2025.