RENNES: French prosecutors have opened a new investigation into a surgeon convicted of raping and sexually abusing patients over decades, involving some 50 new alleged offenses, authorities said Wednesday.

Joel Le Scouarnec, one of the most prolific convicted sex offenders in French history, was last year sentenced to the maximum 20-year jail term for the rape or sexual assault of 299 patients, most of them minors.

Lorient public prosecutor Laetitia Mirande said "the existence of further offenses came to light or was confirmed" during the trial, while authorities had also received "additional complaints."

Prosecutors have opened a judicial investigation into 40 new counts of sexual assault and 10 counts of rape, in both cases "involving a minor under the age of 15 or committed by a person abusing the authority conferred by their position," Mirande said.

"The alleged offenses, for which the statute of limitations has not expired, date from 1987 to 2017" and "involve 48 victims," the prosecutor added.

In last year's trial, Le Scouarnec admitted sexually assaulting or raping 299 patients — 256 of them under 15 — in hospitals between 1989 and 2014, many while they were under anesthesia or waking up after operations.

He was arrested in 2017 following a complaint that he had raped a six-year-old neighbor, leading police to discover files on his computer documenting his crimes and listing his victims' names, ages and addresses, as well as the nature of the abuse.

Le Scouarnec's lawyers did not immediately respond to AFP's request for comment.

Joel Le Scouarnec

France opens new probe into surgeon convicted of mass child sex abuse