France is hosting its biggest ever child sex abuse trial as ex-surgeon.
For over thirty years, Le Scouarnec, one day a highly respected member of the medical community, had hidden his gruesome offenses. Patients, including his own family members as well as young children who were under anesthesia, endured in vain. Survivors, stepping forward now, tell of their nightmarish experiences which started as early as age three.
Among them is Stéphanie, 46, who for years concealed the years of abuse she suffered at his hands because of familial loyalty and fear. Her testimony, combined with that of other survivors like Alexandra, 47, reveals a grim record of silence and complicity that enabled the crimes to thrive. 
Scandalously, Le Scouarnec’s clinical digital diaries – seized by police in 2017 – immortalize the abuser’s crimprific acts in microscopic detail. The trial has also fueled controversy about his wife, Marie-France Lhermitte, who claimed she knew none of his misdemeanours despite mounting evidence.
After being released from jail in 2017 to serve 18 months improperly, Le Scouarnce is now behind bars until 2023 for old infractions, and faces an additional 20 years of prison time if he is convicted of his current charges. His case has ignited nationwide cries for legal changes to extend statute of limitations period and introduce harsher punishments for pedophiles.
As victims speak out, France confronts the wider systemic failures that enabled a predator for decades. The trial keeps going on, long over due justice being sought by the survivors.
