A former surgeon is set to stand trial in France for the alleged rape or sexual abuse of 299 victims. Most of them were children who were his patients.

The son of a retired French surgeon accused of raping and sexually assaulting hundreds of young patients told a court on Tuesday that Joel Le Scouarnec was a good father - but that the crimes he is accused of are unforgivable.

The surgeon practiced for decades until his retirement despite a 2005 sentence for owning sexually abusive images of children, and colleagues raising their concerns.

A former surgeon accused of abusing 299 young patients has accepted responsibility for the "vast majority" of the charges he faces as his trial begins, per reports.

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 former surgeon is going on trial in France for the rape and sexual abuse of 299 victims over a period spanning more than three decades.

A former surgeon is accused of raping or sexually abusing 299 victims, mainly his pediatric patients, and detailing over 30 years of the abuse in journals.

A former French surgeon is on trial accused of raping or sexually assaulting almost 300 people, mostly children. View on euronews

VANNES, France (Reuters) - 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.

The numbers involved in France’s largest child abuse trial are staggering: 299 alleged victims, sexually abused in 10 hospitals and clinics over 25 years – all by one doctor, prosecutors say.