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.

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

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.

Described as France's 'worst ever paedophile', Le Scouarnec is accused of attacking 158 males and 141 females, with an average age of 11, over 30 years. Marie-France Le Scouarnec, the mother of their three sons, insisted she knew nothing about her “Jekyll and Hyde” ex-husband's crimes, the court heard.

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.