Joël Le Scouarnec wrote of 250 sexual assaults on child patients over three decades

A surgeon is suspected of sexually assaulting about 250 children in what could be France’s biggest paedophile scandal.

Joël Le Scouarnec, 66, a specialist in abdominal surgery, is alleged to have attacked girls and boys over three decades, sometimes while they were under anaesthetic.

He was convicted of possessing images of child sexual abuse 14 years ago but allowed to continue practising until his arrest in 2017. The latest allegations surfaced during an investigation into claims that he raped two girls, aged four and six, in western France.

Mr Le Scouarnec denies raping the girls but admits “deviant behaviour” with them, according to his lawyer. He has been remanded in custody and is due to go on trial this winter.

During the rape investigation, which