Former doctor sentenced to 15 years in prison for child abuse

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Defendant in the courtroom (on a drawing from March): Assaults on one's nieces

Photo: BENOIT PEYRUCQ / AFP

A former surgeon has been sentenced to 15 years in prison in France for sexually assaulting and raping minors.

The jury of Saintes found the 70-year-old guilty, as the French media unanimously report.

Since Monday, the man had to answer for allegations of four girls who were underage at the time of the crime, two of them from the defendant's family.

In addition, the former doctor was sentenced to three years of judicial and social supervision after his release, as the broadcaster Franceinfo reported.

The high-profile case involves significantly more crimes than the assaults that have now been heard in court.

The process should only represent a first stage.

In October, a new investigation was opened in Lorient, Brittany.

"I do not ask for forgiveness or compassion - just the right to become a better person again"

There are said to be a total of more than 300 underage and adult victims of the now retired doctor, as the daily newspaper »Le Monde« reported.

The allegations cover a long period between 1986 and 2014.

According to media reports, the man had made partial confessions during the current process.

It was therefore about attacks on his two nieces, some of which are barred.

At the same time, the former doctor denied the alleged act in one of the other cases that were heard in the process, as reported by the AFP news agency.

"I ask neither for forgiveness nor for compassion," said the ex-surgeon accordingly, "only for the right to become a better person again."

At the request of joint plaintiffs, the trial took place in camera.

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mxw / dpa