Joel Le Scouarnec: Prolific French paedophile's sentence leaves victims appalled

Prolific abuser Joel Le Scouarnec's 20-year sentence raises questions about whether French law is too lenient.

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The 74-year-old was found guilty on Tuesday of sexually abusing hundreds of people, most of them underage patients of his, over decades.

Over the course of the trial he had confessed to committing 111 rapes and 188 sexual assaults, and was sentenced to the maximum of 20 years in jail.

Prosecutors - who dubbed Le Scouarnec "a devil in a white coat" - had asked the court to take the extremely rare provision to hold him in a centre for treatment and supervision even after release, called preventive detention.

The judge rejected this demand, arguing Le Scouarnec's age and his "desire to make amends" had been taken into account.