A former surgeon went on trial in France on Monday for the alleged rape or sexual abuse of 299 victims, most of them children who were his patients, in what investigators and his own notebooks describe as a pattern of violence spanning over three decades.

A retired surgeon accused of raping and sexually assaulting hundreds of young patients, some while they were under anesthetic, told the opening of his trial in western France on Monday that he had committed "despicable" acts.

A French former surgeon accused of abusing hundreds of patients, most of them children, has told a court that he admits to having "committed despicable acts" and "understands and shares the suffering" caused to his alleged victims.

A former surgeon accused of raping or sexually assaulting hundreds of young patients, some while they were under anaesthetic, went on trial on Monday in France's largest ever child sexual abuse case.

France’s largest child abuse trial is underway – 299 victims, most of them children, all allegedly raped or sexually abused by one doctor. Joël Le Scouarnec, dubbed ‘France’s worst ever paedophile,’ is accused of abusing young patients across 10 hospitals and clinics over the span of 25 years.

France is set to hold its largest-ever trial concerning child sexual abuse, where Joël Le Scouarnec, a former surgeon, now 74, is currently on trial for the sexual abuse of nearly 300 patients, many of whom were children.