This courtroom sketch by Valentin Pasquier shows Joel Le Scouarnec, now 74, sitting in courtroom and accused of raping or abusing 299 people, mostly child patients, at the Vannes courthouse, western France, on the opening day of his trial, Monday, Feb. 24, 2025. (Valentin Pasquier via AP)

A former French surgeon is on trial accused of raping or sexually assaulting almost 300 people, mostly children. View on euronews

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

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 raping or sexually assaulting hundreds of young patients, some while they were under anaesthetic, went on trial on Monday in France's largest ever child sexual abuse case.

A former French surgeon went on trial Monday charged with raping or sexually assaulting almost 300 patients, most of them children at the time, in one of the country's largest

The trial of Joël Le Scouarnec, who is charged with the rape and sexual assault of 299 people in France over decades, is set to begin. The alleged victims’ average age was 11.

The numbers involved in France’s largest child abuse trial are staggering: 299 alleged victims, sexually abused in 10 hospitals and clinics over 25 years – all by one doctor, prosecutors say.