A senior man, aged 74, from Belgium has been sentenced to five years in jail for sexually assaulting a young boy diagnosed with Down’s syndrome. The retired doctor, who previously practiced in Liège, received his sentence at the Liège Court of Appeal, with one-third of the term suspended. The court determined that the assaults occurred in March and May 2021, with the child disclosing that he was assaulted twice by the perpetrator. The defendant, who maintained contact with the boy’s father even after his retirement, allegedly engaged in the abusive acts, one of which took place during a shared shower following a sports activity at the doctor’s residence. Although the doctor refuted the accusations, inconsistencies in his explanations raised doubts. Medical examinations confirmed signs of sexual abuse, while a psychological evaluation characterized the former GP as having narcissistic traits.
In a prior trial held in late September, the defendant was initially given a five-year sentence, with two-thirds of it suspended. Prosecutors advocated for a six-year prison term due to the victim’s vulnerability, whereas the doctor’s legal team sought either an acquittal or a suspended sentence.
This case emerges in the aftermath of a distressing incident of medical child abuse in France, where a surgeon named Joel Le Scouarnec, 74, was convicted of sexually assaulting numerous individuals, most of whom were underage patients, over an extended period. Le Scouarnec admitted to 111 rapes and 188 sexual assaults, leading to a 20-year prison sentence. Earlier in 2020, he had been imprisoned for similar offenses involving his child neighbor, nieces, and a four-year-old patient.
Investigations uncovered electronic journals detailing three decades of abuse in hospitals and medical facilities across western France. His victims, comprising 158 males and 141 females with an average age of 11, were subjected to severe offenses. The aggravating factor in the charges stemmed from his status as a respected medical professional, which facilitated his evasion of justice for an extended period. Le Scouarnec meticulously documented his abusive acts in a diary, even expressing pride in his pedophilic behavior on his birthday each year.
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