this post was submitted on 28 May 2025
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[–] nulluser@lemmy.world 76 points 5 days ago* (last edited 5 days ago) (4 children)

20 years for 299 victims. That's just over three weeks per victim.

Although...

Le Scouarnec, 74, has been dubbed France's most prolific paedophile. He is already in jail after being sentenced in 2020 to 15 years for raping and sexually assaulting four children, including two of his nieces.

He'll probably die in jail, so .. there's that.

[–] Maestro@fedia.io 40 points 5 days ago (1 children)

In most western democracies sentences are served in parallel, not consecutively. The US is one of a few crazy places where people get sentences like 3.000+ years, or 161 life sentences.

[–] catloaf@lemm.ee 7 points 5 days ago

In the US, prison sentences can be consecutive or concurrent. It's up to each sentencing (as provided for by law).

[–] TheEntity@lemmy.world 7 points 5 days ago (2 children)

I always thought repeated offenses call for harsher sentences, not milder, but I guess here we are now.

[–] Vittelius@feddit.org 19 points 5 days ago (2 children)

20 years is the maximum sentence in France

[–] crapwittyname@lemm.ee 15 points 5 days ago (1 children)

If absolutely is not. 30 years is possible, and en perpétuité (forever) in very rare cases.

[–] synapse1278@lemmy.world 5 points 5 days ago

It depends on the offense. Not all offenses have the same maximum.

[–] grrgyle@slrpnk.net 5 points 5 days ago (1 children)

Does France have the concept of a "violent offender" or medical detention? You basically hold someone indefinitely, routinely assessing if they can be released.

[–] Vittelius@feddit.org 8 points 5 days ago* (last edited 5 days ago) (1 children)

Apparently: https://fr.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/R%C3%A9tention_de_s%C3%BBret%C3%A9_en_France

In French criminal law, “rétention de sûreté” is a procedure for placing prisoners who have served their sentence, but who present a very high risk of reoffending because they generally suffer from a serious personality disorder, in a socio-medico-judicial security center. This measure is limited to convictions for the most serious crimes, in particular sex crimes, and must be expressly provided for in the sentencing decision

Translated with DeepL

I couldn't find an English source, even the English wiki article on preventive detention doesn't list France.

[–] grrgyle@slrpnk.net 2 points 5 days ago

Thanks. The incongruity between en and fr Wikipedia is sometimes frustrating.

[–] Schmuppes 10 points 5 days ago* (last edited 5 days ago)

The French legal system probably doesn't stack individual sentences and go "I sentence you to a combined twenty-eight thousand years in prison" like they do in the US.

[–] ilovededyoupiggy@sh.itjust.works 1 points 5 days ago (2 children)

All I know about French prisons I learned from reading Catch Me If You Can. If that's any sort of accurate, he's gonna have a bad time.

[–] Nougat@fedia.io 2 points 5 days ago

Abagnale is a bit of an unreliable witness. He blatantly overstates his "exploits".

[–] catloaf@lemm.ee 1 points 5 days ago

The only real con he pulled was getting people to believe his stories.

And not from old age