Retired GP who Raped Young Boy with Down's Syndrome Jailed for Five Years
- Dignity 4Patients
- Oct 28
- 2 min read
By Eliana Nunes- 28/10/2025- The Mirror- [Belgium]
A 74-year-old man in Belgium has been jailed for five years for raping a young boy with Down's syndrome.
The retired GP, who worked in the city of Liège, was sentenced to five years - with one-third of the sentence suspended - at the Liège Court of Appeal on Tuesday following an earlier trial.
The court heard the abuse took place in March and May 2021. The child told investigators he had been raped twice by the defendant, who continued to see several patients after retirement and had a long-standing friendship with the boy’s father.
The boy described one of the assaults occurring during a shared shower at the doctor’s house after a sports session. He was unable to precisely describe the other incident, The Brussels Times reports.
While the doctor denied the boy's account, his explanations for being in the shower with the child were inconsistent. A medical examination revealed physical signs of sexual abuse, and a psychological report described the former GP as having a narcissistic personality.
In an earlier trial in late September, the defendant was given a five-year sentence with two-thirds suspended. The prosecution had asked for a six-year prison sentence due to the child's vulnerability, while the former doctor's lawyers argued for acquittal or a suspended sentence.
The case comes amid a disturbing medical child abuse case in France. In May, Joel Le Scouarnec, 74, a paedophile surgeon, was found guilty of sexually abusing hundreds of people - most of them underage patients - over decades.
If you have been affected by any of the issues raised in this article and were abused in state run medical and health facilities, you can contact Dignity4Patients, whose helpline is open Monday to Thursday, 10am to 4pm.
Dignity4Patients Commentary: A GP, someone society is meant to trust, committed a grotesque abuse of power against a vulnerable boy with Down’s syndrome. This wasn’t just a crime. It was a catastrophic betrayal by someone who was supposed to heal, protect, and do no harm. When trust is desecrated like this, the damage echoes far beyond the courtroom and calls into question systems, professions, oversight, and those charged with a duty to protect that could allow this to happen.
