La Rochelle (AFP)

The case of a retired surgeon from Charente-Maritime, who is to be tried next year for rape and sexual assault on four minors, could turn into a pedophile case of magnitude over several decades, after the recent filing of new complaints, it was learned Thursday from concordant sources.

The 68-year-old surgeon was dismissed last March in the Charente-Maritime Assize Court, in Saintes, where he should be tried in early 2020, for rape of a minor under the age of (15), per person with authority, incestuous sexual assault on minor, sexual exhibition, in particular. The surgeon, who partially recognizes the facts, incurs 20 years of imprisonment.

The alleged facts, said the prosecutor's office of La Rochelle, date from 1989 to 2017, during which the surgeon worked in Brittany, Touraine, and Charente-Maritime, at the hospital J. They concern four minor victims.

The surgeon, who was confused following the complaint of parents of a girl from Jonzac in spring 2017, was indicted in May 2017. He has been in custody since that date.

But besides what La Rochelle prosecutor's office describes as "first part", the investigation "continues to identify and hear other possible victims" in the near or professional entourage of the accused.

The prosecution has so far not wished to give details, "either on the number or the nature of these facts".

- accusing notebooks -

But at the heart of these ongoing investigations are notebooks, seized at the home of the accused, written by hand, detailing acts, nearly 200 cases in total.

The investigators' job is to determine whether these notebooks describe sexual assaults or rapes that have actually occurred, or whether they are mere descriptions of fantasies.

These notebooks list the boys on one side, and the girls on the other with the names and surnames, and sometimes the coordinates, it was said close source file.

The investigation has found potential victims, now adults, some of whom have lodged a complaint in recent months. "They remember perfectly what they suffered and never spoke about it because they were afraid They tell what is mentioned in the notebook," said Francesca Satta, who defends victims of the Charente trial scheduled for 2020.

"New complaints were filed in June and others just a week ago, I have been contacted by some families, victims of the north of France," said the lawyer, who said not know the total number of complaints filed. "In addition to Loches (Indre-et-Loire), Vannes (Morbihan), victims begin to go back to the hospitals where he went"

"I do not know if everything written in the notebook is true, we must see if everything is true or not," said the lawyer who did not have the notebooks in hand, but has "reproductions ".

The surgeon's lawyer could not be reached by AFP.

The child advocacy association, La Voix de l'Enfant, announced that it would be a civil party for the 2020 trial. Notably to ask if the surgeon, already sentenced in 2005 in Vannes for possession of images child pornography, "was the subject of a care injunction, as we systematically claim in such cases," told AFP President Martine Brousse.

The association also wants to question the Council of the Order, to know if it brought this condemnation to the knowledge of the establishments or exercised the doctor.

© 2019 AFP