“I am a paedophile… and I’m very happy about it.” The thousands of handwritten entries in the so-called ‘black notebooks’ of France’s worst ever child sex offender revealed more than 30 years of horrendous abuse. In devastating detail, they described acts carried out on young patients in his work as a surgeon, in hospitals across western France. He is likely to have abused more than 400 children.

The notebooks also showed just how many blind eyes were turned in that time, and how, at home, he descended further and further into depravity: living in filth, surrounded by more than 70 child-sized dolls. Just weeks after the sentencing in May 2025, we open the paedophile diaries of Dr Joël Le Scouarnec.

Exclusive bonus content:

Wondery - Ad-free & ShortHand

Patreon - Ad-free & Bonus Episodes

Follow us on social media:

YouTube

TikTok

Instagram

Visit our website:

Website

Sources available on redhandedpodcast.com