In retired French surgeon's child rape trial, son says father was like 'Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde'

By Juliette Jabkhiro

VANNES, France (Reuters) - The son of a retired French surgeon accused of raping and sexually assaulting hundreds of young patients told a court on Tuesday that Joel Le Scouarnec was a good father - but that the crimes he is accused of are unforgivable.

Joel Le Scouarnec, 74, faces charges of aggravated rape and sexual assault against 299 victims, most of them children at the time.

"It's like Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde," his elder son told the court in the second day of the trial, in reference to the 19th-century gothic horror novella about an outwardly respectable man who commits shocking crimes.

"I can't hate him because I have nothing to criticize him about as a father. But I can't forgive him for what he may have done."

Joel Le Scouarnec is not accused of abuse against his own children, but he was already convicted in a separate case in 2020 of the rape and sexual assault of four children, including two of his nieces.

In what is considered France's worst case of pedocriminality to go to trial, Joel Le Scouarnec's alleged abuse of patients spanned 25 years, from 1989 to 2014.

As his trial opened on Monday, Joel Le Scouarnec acknowledged that he had "committed despicable acts" and that the harm he had caused was "beyond repair".

In a family already shaken by the abuse allegations, Joel Le Scouarnec's elder son told the court on Tuesday that his late paternal grandfather had repeatedly abused and raped him.

"I was nine, ten years old," he told the court in the second day of trial. "It happened dozens of times."

Earlier in the day, Joel Le Scouarnec's younger son, aged 38, told the court: "For us, it seemed completely crazy that someone could act like that towards so many people."

"You tell yourself: it can't be, it can't be."

After the younger son - who says he has not been in touch with his father since the allegations against him became public - testified in the second day of the trial, Joel Le Scouarnec told him tearfully in court:

"Maybe we'll never see each other again, but I wanted to tell you I love you and I'm sorry."

Both sons said they had overall had a rather happy, privileged childhood and that their father had not abused them.

"I had a happy childhood," the younger son said. "I have very good memories of my father, I think that's also why I haven't been in touch with him since 2017, because deep down I want to keep that image of him."

(Reporting by Juliette Jabkhiro; writing by Ingrid Melander; editing by Mark Heinrich)