France Prepares For Horrific Child Abuse Trial: 'I Am A Pedophile, And I Am Proud Of It'

The trial of a former surgeon who boasted in his diary that "I am a pedophile, and I am proud of it" will begin next week in France against a man believed to be the most prolific child abuser ever in France, according to a report.

Joel Le Scouarnec, 74, faces a barrage of sex crimes allegations involving 299 victims, most of whom were his patients and most of whom were children, when the trial begins Feb. 24.

In total, Le Scouarnec is accused of 300 separate offenses - 111 rapes and 189 sexual assaults - that took place during a span of 25 years in more than a dozen hospitals, Sky News reported.

The average age of his victims was 11 years old - mixed evenly between boys and girls.

"We can call him a monster but it's an understatement," Francesca Satta, a lawyer representing some of Le Scouarnec's alleged victims, told Sky News.

"He has just one thing on his mind, 24/7, and that is sexually abusing young children," Satta said.

His alleged reign of abuse was stopped in 2017 after investigations involving multiple agencies and the FBI.

He was convicted and imprisoned for raping and sexually assaulting four young girls in 2020, but the probes into his behavior uncovered evidence that his crimes were much more widespread.

Investigators searching Le Scouarnec's home found 300,000 photos and videos of children, 70 child-sized dolls, including some that were chained, wigs and hundreds of notebooks and diaries describing the decades of abuse, Sky News reported.

Every year on his birthday, Le Scouarnec would record his age in the diary and then write: "I am a pedophile, and I am proud of it."

For Marie, one of his many victims, the trial brings closure after years of torment and long-awaited justice for those abused by Le Scouarnec.

"This man is a predator of children. His place is in prison and he needs to stay there," Marie said, Sky News reported.