Nantes: a cardiologist sentenced on appeal to 15 years in prison for rape and sexual assault

Europe 1 with AFP // Photo credit: Loic Venance/AFP 7:04 p.m., April 8, 2024, modified at 7:05 p.m., April 8, 2024

A former cardiologist was sentenced Monday on appeal to 15 years of criminal imprisonment by the Assize Court in Nantes for the rape of a patient and sexual assault on two others. The sentence, accompanied by a definitive ban on practicing a medical or paramedical profession, is identical to that handed down at first instance. 

This new conviction is a “moral satisfaction for the victims”, welcomed Me Raoul Ntsakala, lawyer for one of the civil parties. “It was the minimum,” he added. The attorney general had requested Monday morning "between 16 and 18 years" in prison against Daniel M'Bey, 63 years old.

Two other young women accused him of sexual assault

A former patient aged 21 at the time of the events, in October 2018, accused the doctor of having raped her during a consultation in the private practice that he had opened in parallel with his activities at the hospital in Pontivy (Morbihan), during which he injected him with a sedative and hypnotic product, Midazolam. She says she then had a "black hole", punctuated by a few flashes. “There is no justification for the administration of Midazolam, this is unanimous among the experts. A controlled product, dispensed by the hospital pharmacy and which has no place in a city practice” , underlined the Advocate General during his indictment, before comparing the accused to a “hunter” facing “prey”.

>> READ ALSO - 

A suspect arrested in the Grenoble “scooter rapist” case

Two other young women, aged 24 and 18 at the time of the events, in 2017 and 2018 respectively, accused him of sexual assault, one at the hospital, the other at his medical office. On appeal as at first instance, the former doctor denied all of the facts. He claimed to have had a consensual sexual relationship with the young woman who accused him of rape, recognizing there an “ethical misconduct”.

“There is not enough evidence to corroborate the statements of the complainants (...) We do not convict with the benefit of the doubt. If you have the slightest doubt, you will have to acquit,” Me Anna pleaded in the morning Branellec, defense lawyer. The council of the departmental order of doctors of Morbihan, civil party to the trial, declared on Monday "to rely on the court to help (it) maintain an image of the profession and guarantee that we will not see this again type of actions, to reassure future and current patients, and to allow them to always consult a member of our profession with confidence".