'They knew': Victims of paedophile French surgeon blame systemic failure

  • News
  • February 18, 2025

But by that time the doctor had already moved on to work in Quimperle, another town in the same region of Brittany.

The Quimperle hospital was struggling to recruit new staff and its maternity ward and surgery department were threatened with closure, the town’s current mayor Michael Quernez said.

“The arrival of the new surgeon must have been a relief,” he said.

Le Scouarnec did not tell managers about his conviction but a fellow practitioner, psychiatrist Thierry Bonvalot, heard about it from another colleague.

Bonvalot told AFP the colleague “made it sound like it wasn’t anything”.

“He said he was an alcoholic who was lonely, whose wife no longer wanted him, and didn’t provide any proof of the conviction,” Bonvalot said.

“But then very quickly other things started to draw my attention.”

First, Le Scouarnec defended a radiologist at the hospital who had been accused of raping female patients, Bonvalot said.

The man, Mohamed Frehat, would later be sentenced to 18 years in jail for raping and assaulting 32 female patients, including eight minors.

On another occasion, Bonvalot, who also served as head of the hospital board, needed to ask Le Scouarnec about an operation he had performed on a young boy.

“He summed up the operation with so many sexual metaphors that I was shocked. He confessed he had been sentenced for child pornography,” the psychiatrist said.

“I realised he was dangerous and asked him to resign. He refused.”

Doctors vote

On June 14, 2006, in a letter seen by AFP, Bonvalot wrote to the hospital director questioning his colleague’s ability “to remain completely calm when treating young children” in view of his “legal past”.

On July 19, he sent a copy of the letter to the Order of Physicians of the Finistere department of Brittany. AFP saw the stamp indicating the body had received and read it.

Related Posts

  • February 25, 2025
  • 67 views
Transgender religious order gets rare approval at India Hindu festival

Prayagraj (India) (AFP) – Transgender activists often shunned by society say they have found rare acceptance at India’s Hindu Kumbh Mela festival by giving blessings to pilgrims attending the world’s largest religious gathering.

  • February 25, 2025
  • 65 views
Stuck in eternal drought, UAE turns to AI to make it rain

Abu Dhabi (AFP) – In the marbled halls of a luxury hotel, leading experts are discussing a new approach to an age-old problem: how to make it rain in the UAE, the wealthy Gulf state that lies in one of the world’s biggest deserts.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

You Missed

Transgender religious order gets rare approval at India Hindu festival

  • February 25, 2025
  • 67 views
Transgender religious order gets rare approval at India Hindu festival

Stuck in eternal drought, UAE turns to AI to make it rain

  • February 25, 2025
  • 65 views
Stuck in eternal drought, UAE turns to AI to make it rain

Trump's chip tariff threats raise stakes for Taiwan

  • February 25, 2025
  • 67 views
Trump's chip tariff threats raise stakes for Taiwan

Galatasaray accuse Mourinho of 'racist statements' after derby

  • February 25, 2025
  • 81 views
Galatasaray accuse Mourinho of 'racist statements' after derby

Fears of US public health crises grow amid falling vaccination rates

  • February 25, 2025
  • 78 views
Fears of US public health crises grow amid falling vaccination rates

Latin American classics get the streaming treatment

  • February 25, 2025
  • 65 views
Latin American classics get the streaming treatment