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Joël Le Scouarnec: France’s Most Prolific Predator
“I acted without any qualms and with a single objective — to commit sexual assaults as often as I could.” Those weren’t the words of a man caught in a single moment of weakness. They were the written confession of Joël Le Scouarnec, a French surgeon who spent more than 25 years preying on children under the cover of his white coat. Behind the image of a trusted doctor lay meticulous diaries, thousands of images, and the names of nearly 300 victims — many assaulted while unconscious on his operating tables.
But the horror of this case isn’t only about one man’s compulsion. It’s about the silence that protected him — families who minimized, colleagues who ignored whispers, and institutions that valued reputation over safety. For decades, every system that should have stopped him instead kept him untouchable.
This is the story of how silence becomes complicity — protecting a predator in plain sight. And when the tally was finally made, the scale was undeniable: hundreds of victims, etched into journals and confirmed in complaints, cementing this as the largest p*dophilia case in France’s history.
**Don't miss our interview about prevention. Can we prevent p*dophiles from claiming victims? Can they change? That's exactly the conversation we have with Dr. Christoffer Rahm and Colleague Allison from the Karolinska Institute of Sweden. Tune in on Friday 9/19/2025.**
Thanks for listening! If you want to support us, subscribe, rate and review on your favorite podcast listening app!
Want to recommend a wild case or just give s a shout?Contact us at [email protected]
For Wildcider Merch, visit www.wildcidepodcast.com
Find us on Facebook@ Wildcide Podcast. Follow us on Instagram @wildcidepodcast
PS: Don’t forget Wildcide Wednesdays- new episodes drop every Wednesday at 6am EST. Interviews will drop every other Friday at 6am EST.
Background music by Brad Parsons at Train Sound Studio. Art for the podcast was created by Kelly Steen.
WILDCIDE Podcast and any content posted is presented solely for general informational, educational, and entertainment purposes. The use of information on this podcast or materials linked from this podcast or website is at the user’s own risk. It is not intended as a substitute for the advice of a physician, professional coach, psychotherapist, or other qualified professional, diagnosis, or treatment. Users should not disregard or delay in obtaining medical advice for any medical or mental health condition they may have and should seek the assistance of their healthcare professionals for any such conditions.
References:
Al Jazeera. (2025, May 28). French surgeon sentenced to 20 years for sex abuse of nearly 300 people. Al Jazeera
Pull: 20-year maximum, mass case context.
Chrisafis, A. (2025, May 28). French surgeon who abused children for decades sentenced to 20 years in prison. The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/may/28/french-court-sentencing-former-surgeon-joel-le-scouarnec-who-abused-children-for-decades
Reuters. (2025, May 28). Retired French surgeon gets maximum 20-year sentence for raping young patients. Reuters
Pull: 299 victims; anesthesia context; prior 2020 sentence; medical ban/registry; system failures post-2005 conviction.
Le Monde (Aubenas, F.). (2025, May 29). Former surgeon Le Scouarnec handed 20-year sentence… Le Monde.fr
Pull: Admits to 299 counts; “worst child abuse case” framing.
PBS NewsHour. (2025, May 28). French pedophile sentenced to 20 years… PBS
Pull: Max sentence; hundreds of patients.
FranceInfo. (2025). Qui est Joël Le Scouarnec, l’ancien chirurgien soupçonné de pédophilie et d’agressions sexuelles sur plus de 250 patients. FranceInfo. https://www.franceinfo.fr/faits-divers/affaire-le-scouarnec/qui-est-joel-le-scouarnec-l-ancien-chirurgien-soupconne-de-pedophilie-et-d-agressions-sexuelles-sur-plus-de-250-patients_3717021.html
Gozzi, L. (2025, March 1). Name was in a child abuse diary—now his family listen to ‘vile’ testimony. BBC News. https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/ce34v17dw53o
ClickOnDetroit / AP. (2025, May 28). French court to deliver verdict… WDIV
Pull: 20-year max; courtroom sketch; scale.
The Guardian. (2025, Feb 24). French surgeon accused of abusing 299 patients says he did ‘hideous things’. The Guardian
Pull: His words; four-month trial; how 2017 incident triggered search.
AP News. (2025, Feb). A French surgeon is on trial… AP News
Pull: 2017 neighbor report; notebooks; explicit media.
Le Monde (Aubenas, F.). (2025, Apr 24). Trial… reveals ignored warnings. Le Monde.fr
Pull: 2005 suspended sentence for images; colleagues’ testimony.
Le Monde. (2025, Jul 18). France launches probe into failures… Le Monde.fr
Pull: National probe after verdict—institutional accountability.
Sky News. (2025, Feb 20). Diaries of a monster… Sky News
Pull: The notebooks as catalog; decades unchecked.
PBS NewsHour. (2025, February 24). A French surgeon is on trial accused of raping or abusing 299 people, mostly child patients. PBS. https://www.pbs.org/newshour/world/a-french-surgeon-is-on-trial-accused-of-raping-or-abusing-299-people-mostly-child-patients
PEOPLE. (2025, May). Former surgeon sentenced to 20 years… People.com
Pull: 300k+ images; child-sized dolls; concurrent 2020 sentence; claimed links to two suicides (use with care and attribution).
Porter, C., Breeden, A., & Le Stradic, S. (2025, May 27). A French pedophile doctor abused hundreds in his care. Why wasn’t he stopped? The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2025/05/27/world/europe/joel-le-scouarnec-france-doctor-pedophile.html
Karolinska Institutet. (2025). Perpetration Prevention – Rahm & Joleby. (group overview: Prevent It, PRIORITY/PRIOtab, Prevent-MED) Karolinska Institutet
KI project page (Swedish). (n.d.). Effect of GnRH antagonist… randomized clinical trial. (Rahm et al.; degarelix pilot RCT) Karolinska Institutet
Hillert, J., et al. (2024). Web-Based Initiatives to Prevent Sexual Offense Perpetration. Frontiers in Psychology (PMC). PMC
Stephens, S., et al. (2022). A Review of Childhood Sexual Abuse Perpetration… Current Sexual Health Reports. PubMed
NouvelObs. (2025, February 24). Procès Le Scouarnec : 10 dates pour comprendre. NouvelObs. https://www.nouvelobs.com/justice/20250224.OBS100705/proces-le-scouarnec-10-dates-pour-comprendre.html
Vogel, K., & Grégor, P. (2025, May 28). Former French surgeon is sentenced to 20 years in abuse of nearly 300. The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2025/05/28/joel-le-scouarnec-france-doctor-abuse-sentence.html
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By Wildcidepodcast
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“I acted without any qualms and with a single objective — to commit sexual assaults as often as I could.” Those weren’t the words of a man caught in a single moment of weakness. They were the written confession of Joël Le Scouarnec, a French surgeon who spent more than 25 years preying on children under the cover of his white coat. Behind the image of a trusted doctor lay meticulous diaries, thousands of images, and the names of nearly 300 victims — many assaulted while unconscious on his operating tables.
But the horror of this case isn’t only about one man’s compulsion. It’s about the silence that protected him — families who minimized, colleagues who ignored whispers, and institutions that valued reputation over safety. For decades, every system that should have stopped him instead kept him untouchable.
This is the story of how silence becomes complicity — protecting a predator in plain sight. And when the tally was finally made, the scale was undeniable: hundreds of victims, etched into journals and confirmed in complaints, cementing this as the largest p*dophilia case in France’s history.
**Don't miss our interview about prevention. Can we prevent p*dophiles from claiming victims? Can they change? That's exactly the conversation we have with Dr. Christoffer Rahm and Colleague Allison from the Karolinska Institute of Sweden. Tune in on Friday 9/19/2025.**
Thanks for listening! If you want to support us, subscribe, rate and review on your favorite podcast listening app!
Want to recommend a wild case or just give s a shout?Contact us at [email protected]
For Wildcider Merch, visit www.wildcidepodcast.com
Find us on Facebook@ Wildcide Podcast. Follow us on Instagram @wildcidepodcast
PS: Don’t forget Wildcide Wednesdays- new episodes drop every Wednesday at 6am EST. Interviews will drop every other Friday at 6am EST.
Background music by Brad Parsons at Train Sound Studio. Art for the podcast was created by Kelly Steen.
WILDCIDE Podcast and any content posted is presented solely for general informational, educational, and entertainment purposes. The use of information on this podcast or materials linked from this podcast or website is at the user’s own risk. It is not intended as a substitute for the advice of a physician, professional coach, psychotherapist, or other qualified professional, diagnosis, or treatment. Users should not disregard or delay in obtaining medical advice for any medical or mental health condition they may have and should seek the assistance of their healthcare professionals for any such conditions.
References:
Al Jazeera. (2025, May 28). French surgeon sentenced to 20 years for sex abuse of nearly 300 people. Al Jazeera
Pull: 20-year maximum, mass case context.
Chrisafis, A. (2025, May 28). French surgeon who abused children for decades sentenced to 20 years in prison. The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/may/28/french-court-sentencing-former-surgeon-joel-le-scouarnec-who-abused-children-for-decades
Reuters. (2025, May 28). Retired French surgeon gets maximum 20-year sentence for raping young patients. Reuters
Pull: 299 victims; anesthesia context; prior 2020 sentence; medical ban/registry; system failures post-2005 conviction.
Le Monde (Aubenas, F.). (2025, May 29). Former surgeon Le Scouarnec handed 20-year sentence… Le Monde.fr
Pull: Admits to 299 counts; “worst child abuse case” framing.
PBS NewsHour. (2025, May 28). French pedophile sentenced to 20 years… PBS
Pull: Max sentence; hundreds of patients.
FranceInfo. (2025). Qui est Joël Le Scouarnec, l’ancien chirurgien soupçonné de pédophilie et d’agressions sexuelles sur plus de 250 patients. FranceInfo. https://www.franceinfo.fr/faits-divers/affaire-le-scouarnec/qui-est-joel-le-scouarnec-l-ancien-chirurgien-soupconne-de-pedophilie-et-d-agressions-sexuelles-sur-plus-de-250-patients_3717021.html
Gozzi, L. (2025, March 1). Name was in a child abuse diary—now his family listen to ‘vile’ testimony. BBC News. https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/ce34v17dw53o
ClickOnDetroit / AP. (2025, May 28). French court to deliver verdict… WDIV
Pull: 20-year max; courtroom sketch; scale.
The Guardian. (2025, Feb 24). French surgeon accused of abusing 299 patients says he did ‘hideous things’. The Guardian
Pull: His words; four-month trial; how 2017 incident triggered search.
AP News. (2025, Feb). A French surgeon is on trial… AP News
Pull: 2017 neighbor report; notebooks; explicit media.
Le Monde (Aubenas, F.). (2025, Apr 24). Trial… reveals ignored warnings. Le Monde.fr
Pull: 2005 suspended sentence for images; colleagues’ testimony.
Le Monde. (2025, Jul 18). France launches probe into failures… Le Monde.fr
Pull: National probe after verdict—institutional accountability.
Sky News. (2025, Feb 20). Diaries of a monster… Sky News
Pull: The notebooks as catalog; decades unchecked.
PBS NewsHour. (2025, February 24). A French surgeon is on trial accused of raping or abusing 299 people, mostly child patients. PBS. https://www.pbs.org/newshour/world/a-french-surgeon-is-on-trial-accused-of-raping-or-abusing-299-people-mostly-child-patients
PEOPLE. (2025, May). Former surgeon sentenced to 20 years… People.com
Pull: 300k+ images; child-sized dolls; concurrent 2020 sentence; claimed links to two suicides (use with care and attribution).
Porter, C., Breeden, A., & Le Stradic, S. (2025, May 27). A French pedophile doctor abused hundreds in his care. Why wasn’t he stopped? The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2025/05/27/world/europe/joel-le-scouarnec-france-doctor-pedophile.html
Karolinska Institutet. (2025). Perpetration Prevention – Rahm & Joleby. (group overview: Prevent It, PRIORITY/PRIOtab, Prevent-MED) Karolinska Institutet
KI project page (Swedish). (n.d.). Effect of GnRH antagonist… randomized clinical trial. (Rahm et al.; degarelix pilot RCT) Karolinska Institutet
Hillert, J., et al. (2024). Web-Based Initiatives to Prevent Sexual Offense Perpetration. Frontiers in Psychology (PMC). PMC
Stephens, S., et al. (2022). A Review of Childhood Sexual Abuse Perpetration… Current Sexual Health Reports. PubMed
NouvelObs. (2025, February 24). Procès Le Scouarnec : 10 dates pour comprendre. NouvelObs. https://www.nouvelobs.com/justice/20250224.OBS100705/proces-le-scouarnec-10-dates-pour-comprendre.html
Vogel, K., & Grégor, P. (2025, May 28). Former French surgeon is sentenced to 20 years in abuse of nearly 300. The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2025/05/28/joel-le-scouarnec-france-doctor-abuse-sentence.html
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