The verdict comes after a three-month-long trial against the 73-year-old surgeon Joël Le Scouarnec. According to the indictment, he subjected 299 children to rape and sexual abuse between 1989 and.
The doctor stated during his final appearance in court on Monday in Morbihan that he "realized the enormous pain these crimes caused them and their relatives," writes BFMTV.
He will not appeal the verdict, announces the doctor's defender according to AFP.
"Not much"
Francesca Satta, lawyer for some of the victims, says that the verdict matches expectations.
20 years is not much considering the number of victims in this trial, she says, reports Le Monde.
Already on the first day of the trial, at the end of February, Joël Le Scouarnec acknowledged a majority of the crimes. Last week, he admitted responsibility for two of the victims' deaths. Both were boys who committed suicide in 2020 and 2021.
More than half of the abused children were boys, according to the Brittany newspaper Le Télégramme. Of the 299 children, 256 were under 15 years old and most were Le Scouarnec's patients. Many were subjected under the influence of sedative medication.
Other investigations
In December 2020, the doctor was sentenced to 15 years in prison for sexual abuse of four small girls. Two were his relatives, the third a four-year-old patient, and the fourth a six-year-old neighbor girl.
Two other investigations are ongoing. One aims to locate "possible unidentified or recently emerged victims" of the doctor. The other investigates whether individuals close to him had knowledge of his actions.
