Paris, May 28 (AP) A 74-year-old former surgeon, who raped hundreds of victims over a period spanning more than two decades, was sentenced on Friday to the maximum sentence of 20 years in prison by a French court.

Joel Le Scouarnec was found guilty of raping and sexually assaulting 299 children.

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Le Scouarnec is already serving a 15-year prison sentence, for a conviction in 2020 for the rape and sexual assault of four children, including two nieces.

The new trial in Brittany, western France, began in February and laid bare a pattern of abuse between 1989 and 2014. Most of the victims were unconscious or sedated hospital patients at the time of the assaults. The average age was 11. Among the victims were 158 boys and 141 girls. (AP)

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(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)