TRANSCRIPT
These advocates are in front of the Criminal Court house in Vannes, a town in the French province of Brittany.
They're applauding in support of plaintiffs arriving for the trial of 74 year old Joel Le Scouarnec, a former surgeon facing charges of aggravated rape and sexual assault against 299 victims.
Amelie Leveque alleges she is one of them.
"Today I am here to get answers, to finally put an end to this. Because for me it has been five years, more than five years, since I got involved in this whole story after discovering a newspaper article in which I recognised myself as a victim. And so today I am here to see him, to defend myself, and finally put an end to all this."
The trial is to be held in public, but seven days of testimony from alleged victims who were children at the time are to be held behind closed doors.
Prosecutors say 256 of the victims were under 15, with the youngest aged one and the oldest 70.
The former surgeon's alleged abuse of patients is believed to span 25 years and a dozen hospitals, from 1989 to 2014.
His lawyer, Maxime Tessier, says Le Scouarnec has not denied most of the allegations, telling the court on the first day of the trial that he committed "despicable" acts, and that he was aware the harm he had caused was "beyond repair".
"What we want is to show that the situation of each person and this case as a whole has been taken more than seriously by the accused. It does not erase at all what he has done... It shows that the accused is up to the challenge."
Before this trial began, Le Scouarnec was already serving a jail sentence for the abuse of four children, including his neighbour in 2017.
That trial is what prosecutors say led them to the alleged victims in this case.
Prosecutors say police allegedly found a gruesome cache of sex dolls, wigs and child pornography along with electronic diaries during a 2017 raid on the surgeon's home, diaries that appeared to record in fine detail his sexual assaults on scores of patients.
Detectives began tracking those patients down by matching diary descriptions with hospital records.
Another alleged victim, who wishes to be identified only as Francois, says those diaries are disturbing.
"These (the assaults) were repeated several times, by Joel Le Scouarnec. And when you read what he puts in his notebooks concerning us, it's horrible. It's very vulgar language, very disturbing and far from language you would expect from a surgeon - clean, irreproachable, without vice."
Many of the former patients have no recollection of the assaults but court documents show psychiatrists have documented symptoms of post-traumatic stress in the alleged victims, and one has died of an overdose after reportedly turning to drugs following his abuse.
Francois was only 12 when the surgeon operated on him - and he says he left hospital a changed boy who became quiet and withdrawn.
He says he hopes the trial will provide some answers.
"I realise that I should not have been operated on by this surgeon, that, ultimately, the protections, the safeguards were not activated or were not activated in time, and that the warnings were not listened to. So yes, I feel betrayed by the authorities."
Advocates say those warnings were obvious.
A statement published online by a group of doctors and health advocates ahead of the trial says France's governing medical body (the National Council of the Order of Physicians) had been alerted to concerns about his behaviour and took no action.
A psychiatrist also raised concerns to hospital management in Quimperle after learning about his 2005 child pornography conviction.
Prosecutor Stephane Kellenberger has opened a separate probe into the possible criminal liability of other public bodies or individuals who could have prevented the abuse, which plaintiff and rights group leader Homayra Sellier says is overdue.
"The medical world has all the good reasons to stand up next to us and to recognise the failures and to recognise the responsibilities which were not met. Because otherwise it means that we can no longer trust doctors. We can no longer trust hospitals."
Le Scouarnec’s trial comes just weeks after the conclusion of a prominent case involving Gisèle Pélicot, who was drugged and raped by her now ex-husband and dozens of other men.
Gisele Pélicot's daughter, Caroline Darian, says those revelations continue to haunt them.
"You can't you know imagine how (it) hurts. It... You know, it is and it was a nightmare."
With the conclusion of the Pelicot case still fresh in the public's memory, activists hope this trial will help them to keep pushing to lift taboos that have long surrounded sexual abuse in France.
Some child protection groups have even joined these proceedings as civil parties, saying they hope to toughen the legal framework to prevent such abuse.
Francesca Satta is a lawyer representing several of the alleged victims in the case, and says she hopes his admissions - and the trial itself - will help them heal.
"In any case, it is a good step forward (that Le Scouarnec recognised a part of the allegations), I would say, and a rather interesting surprise to have, today, a man who wants to recognise the actions he is accused of. It means a chance for the victims to rebuild themselves, to be able to perhaps obtain answers on missing elements."
If you or someone you know needs support, contact Lifeline crisis support on 13 11 14, Suicide Call Back Service on 1300 659 467 and Kids Helpline on 1800 55 1800 (for people aged 5 to 25). More information is available at and .
Anyone seeking information or support relating to sexual abuse can contact Bravehearts on 1800 272 831 or Blue Knot on 1300 657 380.
