A 74-year-old man from Belgium has been sentenced to five years in prison for sexually assaulting a young boy with Down’s syndrome. The man, a retired doctor from Liège, received his sentence at the Liège Court of Appeal with one-third of the term being suspended. The incidents occurred in March and May 2021, with the child reporting that he was assaulted twice by the defendant, who maintained a relationship with the boy’s father even after retiring.
One of the assaults allegedly took place during a shared shower at the doctor’s residence after a sports session, while the details of the other incident were less clear. Despite the man denying the accusations, inconsistencies in his explanations for being in the shower with the child were noted. Physical signs of abuse were found during a medical examination, and a psychological evaluation labeled the former GP as having a narcissistic personality.
In a previous trial, the defendant was given a five-year sentence with two-thirds suspended, with the prosecution seeking a six-year term due to the child’s vulnerability. This case emerges in the context of a separate disturbing incident in France involving a paedophile surgeon convicted of sexually abusing numerous patients, predominantly minors, over several years. The surgeon, Joel Le Scouarnec, admitted to numerous counts of rape and assault and was sentenced to 20 years in prison.
Le Scouarnec’s crimes were exposed through electronic diaries detailing decades of abuse on young patients in medical facilities across western France. Prosecutors emphasized the aggravating factor of his respected medical status, which shielded him from consequences for an extended period. The surgeon maintained a detailed log of his offenses, expressing pride in his pedophilic actions.